Antonio, Antonio, who, what, why and where art thou, Antonio?

This feisty pirate-filled theat-Rrrrrrr creation compiles the Antonio characters from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice into a love-filled story about Antonio’s quest for love – with Shakespeare himself and the most ineligible bachelors that feature in his works. It contains multiple art forms, song styles, fashion eras and Shakespearean references, all within 45 minutes.

Presented in New York City’s The Tank, which “champions emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression working across all disciplines”, Antonio! is live-streamed from Manhattan straight to a screen at Wellington’s Te Auaha Cinema on a crisp Saturday afternoon, where an enthusiastic crowd of supporters cheer, clap and sing along to crowd favourites ‘I’m a Prince (So I Always Get What I want)’ and of course the essential ‘A Pirate’s Life’.

The writing is so clever, by creative team Ania Upstill (also the director) and William Duignan. The multi-talented cast of five each has our attention hooked on them throughout: Andy Manning, Ania Upstill, Evan Michael Smith, Felix Crossley-Pritchard and energetic William Duignan as our heart-stricken loverboy.

Shakespeare is renowned for his romances and the audience can feel the love throughout the show. We are not only a witness to this magical chaos of a production, but also acknowledged, addressed and included by the performers while the actors simultaneously perform to another audience live in New York. 

Although not a Globe Theatre production, I can see it easily wowing audiences in Shakespeare’s original stomping ground, and I hope they make it there following their upcoming tour to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

I have been lucky enough to see some of the cast’s works previously and love their continued championing of beautiful queer stories that are relatable and loveable by every audience member, whether you’re a pantaloon (as in puffy pants) fan or not.

I have to give credit to the whole creative team for putting this together in what must be a world first. The crossover of storylines, rock songs, ballads and sea shanties melt beautifully together – even bringing countries together in the process.

How such a show can be condensed to 45 minutes, let alone an original Shakesqueer creation combining so many beautiful rock’n’roll stories, I will never know.

What I do know is this is a piece I have been missing in my life and I will be sure to follow their instagram @butchmermaidproductions for future productions. For content you can enjoy now, check out their profile on linktr.ee/butchmermaid.

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