No Holds Bard is a community-driven Shakespeare festival. From a newly-imagined Macbeth set in post-earthquake Haiti circa 2010 through our centerpiece bootleg-style presentation of Romeo and Juliet, we are calling on the support and participation of not only our local artists, but of anyone who has ever felt the glow of the limelight and the call of the boards. There is a little something for everyone in The Z’s Shakespeare festival. In addition to the afore-mentioned plays, we are presenting a concert of some of Shakespeare’s dozens of lyrics set to original music by local composers and songwriters and an evening of re-contextualized and newly-paraphrased classic scenes. Imagine Tybalt and Mercutio dueling it out in high-stakes poker, or young Henry exhorting his band of brothers to make one final pizza delivery.

Running throughout the festival is the psychological drama Macbeth, the Bard’s masterpiece of treachery, betrayal, and slaughter.

We are inviting theater enthusiasts of all ages to take a few classic scenes and re-fashion them for the modern ear.

Bootleg Shakespeare is a true community-sourced production. Our randomly-cast actors have six weeks to learn their lines, create their costumes, and fashion their props– all on their own, without the collaboration of any other actors.