The Mad Mechanicals

It’s like Shakespeare, only entertaining. The shire’s zaniest acting troupe takes the famous plays of William Shakespeare and…tweaks them. Rubber chickens give new life to the Bard’s classics.

The Mad Mechanicals are an acting troupe loosely based upon the rude mechanicals from William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. They are tradesmen and simpletons completely devoid of training or talent who have a fond desire to perform. As in Shakespeare’s classic, their ineptitude brings forth shows that are both hysterical and endearing. They are the essence of theatre “So bad it is good.”

The troupe consists of Richard Mooney as Francis Flute the bellows mender (part time), Dan Wentzel as Nick Bottom the weaver, Jill Wentzel as Snug Fytt the joiner, Andi Gastonguay as Robin Starveling the seamstress, and Adam Gastonguay as Thomas Snout the tinker. Each of these characters have been crafted and designed to work well together and within the shows and venues in which we perform.

All members of the troupe have had improvisational and stage performance training. Though we prefer to work with amplification, we have all been trained in stage voice projection techniques.

We bring to each festival a selection of Shakespearian parody plays and songs, in addition to interaction with the guests between shows. The songs we perform all use melodies from popular faire songs, so they are recognizable to guests, but add the surprise of lyrics based upon Shakespeare’s plays and the life of a Shakespearian actor. We are best known for our signature street act called “Random Acts of Shakespeare” in which we perform any of Shakespeare’s plays in three acts.

In addition to stage shows and audience interaction, members of the Mad Mechanicals throw juggle, contact juggle, plate spin, dance and perform magic.

The Mad Mechanicals have performed at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, the Virginia Renaissance Faire, the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival, Spoutwood Faerie Festival and the Maryland Faerie Festival. At each of these faires we have developed a following of fans who know not only our shows, but the lyrics to our songs.

To find out more about The Mad Mechanicals, visit http://www.themadmechanicals.com.