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Violent Delights
Created and Directed by Penelope Parsons-Lord with Erika Sasseville
Review by Ernest Edwards
In my years of living in the Twin Cities, I have never been to the Crane Theatre before. It was great to see the Night Fire Theatre production of Violent Delights at the Crane Theatre last night.
From the poster it sounds like play this got its start back in 2019. This is my first time seeing this production. It takes bits and pieces of various Shakespeare plays and creates a new story with a cast of 9 who play all the roles. Some of the plays represented are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, and Titus Andronicus. The plays were woven together very well. Made for a fun night at the theater.
After seeing this play, I may have to rewatch some of my favorite Shakespeare plays on films. Don’t be surprised to hear me rewatching the Kenneth Branagh film version of Much About Nothing in the near future.
The stage setting was unique too. It was a thrust stage setting with traditional stage seating in the back, and the fun seating was on the sides of the stage. The sides consisted of couches, love seats, chairs, and table & chairs to choose from. The side seating was fun and up close too.
The first paragraph of the Director’s Note in the program are so true. ‘Sometimes when I say the word “Shakespeare,” I see people’s eyes gloss over. And I get it —maybe your mind jumps to hours in a classroom slowly reading through Romeo and Juliet, or sitting in a dark theatre trying to decipher confusing language. Or maybe you dismiss Shakespeare as a dead white man who is overproduced and irrelevant. I understand that whilst there are some truly amazing productions out there, there are a lot of negative associations with the word “Shakespeare.”’
Violent Delights presents Shakespeare as you have never seen it before. Whether you have seen a Shakespeare play before, or have seen many Shakespeare plays, or have never seen a Shakespeare play before Violent Delights is a great introduction to Shakespeare. This is Shakespeare as you have never seen it before.
I went to the penultimate performance of this play. There’s only day left to see this creative production. It closes on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2026. Check out www.nightfiretheatre.com for tickets.
