Oh! What a Shame!

A supposedly "irreverent" adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure', 'Oh! What A Shame!' doesn't have much to do with the English bard. Directed by Adrian Howells, this short theatre piece - it lasts around one hour - borrows more from popular and trashy culture than from William Shakespeare, introducing the audience to a bizarre cast of characters impersonating a vast array of icons from John Wayne to Mary Poppins, from Hugh Grant to Britney Spears. The characters, all clad in black, move around a bare stage, their main aim seeming to throw white chairs at each other, shift them around the stage or literally steal them from under each other. The time passing is marked by a guy skipping a rope in the background for most of the play.
Parts of the script and the choreographies are funny and, at times, even moving, but, as a whole, this radical take on Shakespeare fails to engage. [Anna Battista]