Will in a Week: A review of Warwick ShakeSoc’s Bard’s Buffet

Warwick’s Shakespeare Society returned with its annual ‘Will in a Week’ production, bringing us Bard’s Buffet, a vivacious, thirty-minute Shakespearean mash-up written by Diya Sengupta and Anoushay Dar, who last took the stage with her psychological drama Mitti/Dirt. With Bard’s Buffet, Dar and Sengupta have crafted a light-hearted take on the Bard’s most famous characters, all presented as contestants in a ‘MasterChef’-style cooking competition. Directed by Harlo Thistleton in his debut for Warwick Drama and produced by Shakespeare Society’s dedicated Rhea Pereira—who also directed Mitti/Dirt—the production showcases a powerhouse team tackling a whirlwind creative process.

Their interactions with the contestants […] provide a clever platform for parody, poking gentle fun at the solemnity that often surrounds Shakespeare’s tragic figures.

With its breezy runtime, Bard’s Buffet leaps straight into a high-energy conceit. Shakespeare’s tragic and comedic characters compete in a parody cooking contest, each vying for approval under the watchful eyes of three judges: Oberon, Titania, and Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is an inventive blend that keeps the original personalities of these characters largely intact. The imperious yet ultimately altruistic Oberon, the proud and compassionate Titania, and the earnest but bumbling Bottom all add a vibrant layer to the absurd proceedings. Their interactions with the contestants—Macbeth, Hamlet, and Cordelia (from Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear, respectively)—provide a clever platform for parody, poking gentle fun at the solemnity that often surrounds Shakespeare’s tragic figures. This willingness to laugh at the Shakespearean canon would certainly have resonated with Peter Brook, who critiques the rigid reverence often given to theatre in his seminal work, The Empty Space.

While the performances are spirited and well-tuned for parody, there’s an imbalance in the comedy’s momentum. The tragic contestants provide ample fodder, with exaggerated yet affectionate takes on the archetypes of Macbeth’s power-hungry ambition, Hamlet’s existential brooding, and Cordelia’s unfaltering virtue. But the judging trio, all drawn from Shakespeare’s comedy, lack the dynamic contrast necessary for the satire to fully ignite. Parody thrives on juxtapositions. Here, however, Oberon, Titania, and Bottom remain somewhat muted against the intensity of the tragic characters, making it difficult for the comic potential of their roles to stand out.

Sengupta and Dar’s writing shines as an engaging piece for Shakespeare Society’s increasingly enthusiastic fan base lead valiantly by Max Fleming and Alfie Rogers, the social secretaries of the society.

At the matinee showing, the audience was a blend of freshers and Warwick Drama regulars. This insider crowd seemed well-suited for Bard’s Buffet, with much of the humour hinging on a basic familiarity with Shakespeare. Shakespeare Society’s annual event attracts a crowd fond of the Bard, and so, understandably, no one in attendance appeared disinclined to embrace this lovingly crafted satire.

Ultimately, Bard’s Buffet is a playful piece that combines affectionate homage with satire, breathing fresh life into Shakespearean classics. While there is room for the comic hosts to take centre stage with sharper contrasts, Sengupta and Dar’s writing shines as an engaging piece for Shakespeare Society’s increasingly enthusiastic fan base lead valiantly by Max Fleming and Alfie Rogers, the social secretaries of the society.