We know our “die-hard” Hard Bard fans have missed the carnage, and we sure hope to be back someday, somewhere, splashing gore on our audiences and making them cry with laughter,
After our 2016 production of The Duchess of Malfi, we had to take a break from HARD BARD – it costs a LOT. We were even ready to remount the most beloved of Hard Bard blood fests, Titus Andronicus, during the Fall of 2018, but our arranged venue for the show fell through. We’re always on the hunt for an adequate and affordable space to bring back the series, so if you know of something. let us know! Anybody have a barn? Or a giant warehouse… preferably with a drain in the floor?
Now watch a little video about HARD BARD
HARD BARD is GreenStage’s occasional indoor show that is always FREE to attend. But be prepared – we might bleed on you.
Hard Bard is hyper-reality: there are no small moments, characters, or actions. Passions run hotter. Hearts swell fuller. Stakes rise higher. And vengeance is served colder. Where Hamlet would have us “hold the mirror up to nature”, Hard Bard would have us hold a magnifying glass. When magnified, our perception of an image becomes distorted, grotesque, or even a bit silly, but the image itself doesn’t change. Approaching a script in this way opens up new possibilities for understanding and discovering the play, our world, each other, and ourselves.
The world created in any theatrical endeavor should be honest and inhabited by real people. Hard Bard seeks to heighten that world beyond our reality while maintaining honesty.
We have also found that when the script calls for blood, more is better.
WARNING:
HARD BARD SHOWS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO CONTAIN SUICIDE, LUST, REVENGE, MURDER, RAPE, MUTILATION, DISMEMBERMENT, BEHEADINGS, SINGING, BAD TOUCHING, NECROPHILIA, PENNY WHISTLES, ADULTERY, INCEST, PLEATHER, CANNIBALISM, LOTS OF BLOOD, EXECUTIONS, HOOTENANNIES, AND VERY BAD CLOWNS. Probably not suitable for children, but hey… they’re your kids. There will be blood; the front row (at least) is a splash zone. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
HARD BARD History
1995 – Titus Andronicus – the show that started it all
2009 – Titus Andronicus – the original production restaged under the HARD BARD brand
2010 – Macbeth – Complete with barbershop quartet cheekily named “The Minor Thanes”
2011 – The Revenger’s Tragedy – pitting Punk Rock against Emo
2012 – Cardenio – Shakespeare’s lost play… written with help of his friends…his dead friends.
2013 – The Bacchae – GreenStage goes Greek!
2016 – The Duchess of Malfi – by John Webster