Shakespeare at the 2016 Philly Fringe

The works of William Shakespeare would seem an anathema for the experimental, wild, out-there offerings of the Fringe Festival, but his plays have been produced in each of the festival's 20 seasons — though not in forms that Shakespeare might recognize.

One king, almost traditional

The most traditional staging — relative to the rest, that is — of a Shakespeare play in this year's Fringe will be Revolution Shakespeare's King John (September 21 - October 1), Griffin Stanton-Ameisen's third full outdoor production in South Philly's Hawthorne Park. At 100 minutes, it retains a lot of Shakespeare's dialogue, while setting the play in a post-apocalyptic America with live trip-hop music composed by Christopher Colucci. Director Dan Kern's cast includes Kevin Bergen as the title despot, Cathy Simpson as Queen Elinor, and Jared Michael Delaney as France's King Phillip, and he's staging King John in the round.

In the spirit of the play's politically-charged intrigue, voter registration will be available, along with the Butter Food Truck. Stanton-Ameisen says the play asks, “Who is our rightful leader and why?" Good question.

Curated Fringe: radical visions of Julius Caesar and Macbeth

The Fringe features two Shakespeare adaptations by visiting companies in the curated portion of the Fringe. Julius Caesar. Spared Parts (September 22 - 24) is Romeo Castellucci's Societas Raffaello Sanzio's "dramatic intervention," staged at the Navy Yard with three actors. It's a restaging of fragments of his 1997 full production of the historical tragedy, featuring a Caesar who speaks only through gestures. Castellucci previously brought The Four Seasons Restaurant, On the Concept of the Face, and Regarding the Son of God to the Fringe.

Third World Bunfight's Macbeth (September 24 and 25), co-presented with Opera Philadelphia at the Prince Theater, sets Verdi's operatic adaptation, trimmed to 100 minutes and infused with African rhythms, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Macbeth is a warlord trying to rule a post-colonial country rich in natural resources, but torn by ethnic conflicts and multinational politics.

Locals have fun with the Bard

I was saddened to hear Let's Fuck Around with Hamlet — a new work by John Shultz, whose immersive Till Burnam Wood. . . was a revelation two years ago, and revived last year — was canceled. Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre's remounting of their combat anthology Kill Will is also gone while the company is on hiatus. However, lots of other companies are still fucking around with Shakespeare this season.

Ensemble Atria and EagerRisk Theater team to produce Rachel Strayer's Drowning Ophelia (September 10 - 13) at the Iron Factory. A woman discovers a literary character — Hamlet's girlfriend — has taken up residence in her bathtub, and wants her gone. EagerRisk brought the Fringe The Artists' Women in 2012, and Life Is a Dream last year.

The Manayunk Theatre Company — trying for over two years to establish a theater in an otherwise artsy neighborhood where none has ever thrived — presents Bedlam: Shakespeare in Rehab (September 9 - 17), in which Amanda Coffin and Gabriel Henninger gather Shakespeare's heroines in a haunting, run-down institution.

The Margo Jones Syndicate produces Shakespeare @ the Bar: The Taming of the Shrew (September 11) at West Philly's City Tap House, a "lightly rehearsed" 90-minute adaptation that hearkens back to Shakespeare's time, when they didn't practice much and often performed for drunks. Seriously.

Of this year's Shakespeare-ish productions, only one is suitable for children: Ombelico Mask Ensemble's raucous slapstick commedia dell'arte deconstructed free one-hour outdoor version of Hamlet, titled Omeletto: Like Hamlet, Only Scrambled. Director John Bellomo's troupe uses commedia characters like Arlecchino, Pantelone, and Capitano to break down Hamlet and crack us up. Ombelico has Fringed since 2007, and features an international cast.