How much sex and booze can a Shakespeare staging stand? A lot, it turns out, as "Fifty Shades of Shakespeare" showed at its opening Feb. 5.

And it proves again that Shakespeare is so good a playwright that his language, and stage dynamics, cannot be denied - even with Juliette played by a comely bearded man in polkadot bathrobe (Zachary Lee Schley) to an "unconventionally handsome" Romeo (played in a gender reversal by Kelly Schmidt).

Evidence that "something 'wicked' this way comes [Macbeth]"  was littered about the cabaret at Lincoln Avenue's Fizz Bar: various sexual trivia cards, "spanking sticks" and gift bags from the Pleasure Chest adult emporium. All to let the audience know this would not be your father's Bard.

The (re)discovertheatre production calls it an "orgy of hilarious, powerful, and revealing explorations of gender roles, sexuality, kink, and relationships, all told through the bard's sexiest scenes."  It leans toward the hilarious and light-hearted, supporting the troupes' mission to make theater more casual. And that it was.

Awaiting the 8:00 performance, the audience, seated cabaret style, watched the actors running through bits, as they mingled and collected trivia that later made its way into improvised scene breaks. A fully stocked bar was open during the performance, and the audience was exhorted to visit continuously.

As the show unfolded so did its structure: 11 Shakespeare scenes from several plays (Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet) covered by four actors (Zach Schley, Kelly Schmidt, plus Shaina Schrooten and Jesse Hinton). Scenes ran five to seven minutes, with mostly pairs of actors.

Each piece was re-imagined from the original script, and given a name. "Virginity," (drawn from Act 1 Scene 1of All's Well that Ends Well,) finds Helena (Zach Schley) asking Parolles (Jesse Hinton) how to defend her virginity against the relentless efforts at her seduction by soldiers and men in general. This is artfully reimagined as a 1950s sex education film strip with Parolles as the lab-coated science prof in safety glasses dispensing know-it-all advice to the innocently persistent Helena, who knows better than to take it. This was one of the most fun scenes in the show.

"Pleasure," (drawn from Act. 2, Scene 4 of Measure for Measure) posed the players as a cat and dog with S&M overtones. Isabella (Schley) and Angelo (Hinton) made the action expressive of the text as Angelo jousted for dominance. Shakespeare played along. Angelo's "Show it all by putting on the destined livery," fit nicely with bondage props. Isabella's "I have no tongue but one," fit the moment on stage, though probably not as the author intended.

For Shakespeare purists, how does performing in a bar measure up? A case could be made this approach very much matches the original intent of the playwright, whose work was served up in tavern courtyards, along with mead and wine. And as is generally known, men played the women's roles in Shakespeare's time. (Charles II ended that, as the 2004 movie "Stage Beauty" relates.)

For some scenes portrayed with more physicality than speech, the words got lost. And the show relies on a familiarity with the material to get what Shakespeare's original intent was, and the riff that we are witnessing. The opening night audience was keeping up and laughing steadily, so the performers were connecting.

That said, these are serious Shakespearians, and at times the intensity of the material took charge. In "More the Man," Shaina Schrooten as Lady Macbeth and Kelly Schmidt as Macbeth captured the essence of the scene and the power of the language.

"The Cause" with Othello (Hinton) and Desdemona (Schley) took the floor to high seriousness.

The witches scene from Macbeth plays the language for all its worth as the witches (Hinton, Schley, Schmidt) writhe and squirm lecherously ("Open locks, whoever knocks"), then having placed a bondage mask on Macbeth (Shaina Schrooten), and binding his (her) hands, they disappear - true to the playwright, and the production, this scene should not be missed.

The cast switches roles evening by evening. So the experience will be a bit different depending on who plays whom. As an immersive experience and a fun, relaxing event - you will enjoy 50 Shades of Shakespeare.

Fifty Shades of Shakespeare features Jesse Hinton, Zachary Lee Schley, Kelly Schmidt*, and Shaina Schrooten*. The creative team for Fifty Shades of Shakespeare includes Janet Howe* (director / costume design), Molly Donahue* (assistant director / fight director), Paul Hovey (stage manager), Abby Gillette (assistant stage manager), Jack Wallace (text coach), Matt Wills* (sound design), Andrew Lund (choreographer), Laura Wiley (Lighting Designer), and Tristan Brandon (props design). Fifty Shades of Shakespeare was created and developed by Jess Shoemaker and (re)discover theatre.

Fifty Shades of Shakespeare will run February 5 - 28 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings at 8 pm— with additional 10 pm shows on February 12 and 13— at Fizz Bar (3220 N. Lincoln, Chicago, IL). Tickets can be reserved at: rediscovertheatre.com/tickets