Juliet: A Revenge Comedy returns to the local stage, December 4 to 8

Kay Meek Arts Centre hosts the celebrated play that sends up Shakespeare by Pippa Mackie and Ryan Gladstone

Lili Beaudoin (left) and Carly Pokoradi in *Juliet: A Revenge Comedy*. Photo by Peyton Mott

Kay Meek Arts Centre presents Juliet: A Revenge Comedy from December 4 to 8 at McEwen Theatre

WHAT IF JULIET decided not to die? This is a central question in Juliet: A Revenge Comedy, a hit play co-written by Pippa Mackie and Ryan Gladstone running at the Kay Meek Arts Centre from December 4 to 8.

A send-up of Shakespeare classics, the story sees the titular character (played by Lili Beaudoin) break out of an endless loop of turning a dagger on herself in search of a reason for her tragic demise. She winds up recruiting some of the author’s most famous, and similarly doomed, female characters to help her break the cycle—think Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra, and Miranda. Gladstone plays the Bard himself, pursuing his heroines before they subvert his canon. Carly Pokoradi plays some 20-plus characters, including Romeo, Lady Macbeth, and Ophelia.

The work has gone from Fringe festival favourite to Jessie Award–winning play.

“We sold out the first-ever show we did,” Mackie told Stir earlier this year. “So we had nothing to back it off of, and it’s just been touring the country in a similar fashion ever since. Like, we just want to have fun and make people laugh and take the piss out of Shakespeare a little bit.

“This character in particular is so culturally relevant to people,” Mackie added of Juliet. “She’s either the character you want to play out of theatre school, or you want to do her monologue. You know, it’s like the greatest love story of all time. But when you actually kind of look at the facts, it was not so romantic. It was kind of ridiculous. And really, to us, it was very funny. She’s only 13!”

Stir reviewed the show when it ran this past winter at The Cultch, noting “Embracing both the absurd and the profound, the production’s simple, smart setup and upbeat feel hit the sweet spot of being witty without the show getting too cynical or full of itself.”

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Gail Johnson

Gail Johnson is cofounder of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.

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