Drunk Shakespeare

With more performances of Shakespeare than any other company in New York! Also, more drinking!

One professional actor has 5 shots of whiskey and then attempts to perform in a Shakespearean play.

There is a hidden library on the 2nd Floor of a building on 43rd and 8th. With over 15,000 books, The Drunk Shakespeare Society meets every night to drink... knowledge of Shakespeare is not required.

A mysterious bartender serves cocktails through a 10-foot high bookcase made entirely of black books. 100 prized novels are forever buried in an amber fluid in front of a royal throne. Other easter eggs are hidden throughout the room...

Craft cocktails are available for purchase during the show.

Chances are you didn’t actually read “Romeo and Juliet” in high school. And if you did, did you really understand it without watching Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio make out in a pool? Reading the Bard’s canon feels like a chore or a homework assignment for many people, so why not add a little fun (and alcohol) to the proceedings? Enter “Drunk Shakespeare,” a revelrous reinvention of the Bard’s canon (the plays rotate), in which one actor takes five pre-show shots of whiskey and proceeds to perform their part, at the whim of the muse of alcohol.

Framed as a meeting of The Drunk Shakespeare Society, the actors gather in a library to perform “Macbeth.” A different actor is selected as the “drunk” performer each night, and the four sober actors are in charge of keeping the show on track and following the inebriated one’s demands. “Slate” said the experience is “the best thing to ever happen to the theater,” and “The New York Times” calls it “zany, rowdy, and debaucherous.” But the best part is you can drink throughout the show too — or you can just watch the drunkards wreak havoc.

What to watch for

You can be the King — at a price. At each performance, two guests are crowned the King or Queen (and Squire), and these audience members receive premium seating, crowns to wear, cocktails, champagne, and some decision-making powers throughout the play.

Drunk Shakespeare used to be performed at a real bar, but now it’s performed at Roy Arias Studios in a space that has been converted to look like a library bar. Don’t worry, alcohol is still served.

An audience member joins the chosen drunk actor for a pre-show shot to prove that the glasses are indeed filled with alcohol.

Getting drunk is not an option — for the actors. The casting notice for the show calls for professional actors with Shakespeare experience who are also willing to imbibe on the job at least once a week.

Please note: each attendee will need to present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination for entry, along with an appropriate ID matching the name on their documentation.