Intrepid Shakespeare Company

The Quality of Life is a worth-​seeing play. Thought-​provoking performance. Superior acting.

We went to see «I hate Hamlet» on 7÷10÷14. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we were given tickets, so thought…“Hey, What the Heck”. We really figured that we would leave during the intermission, as we often do if a show is bad.
But boy were we surprised! First of all, we’ve been to the SDA Performing Arts Centre so we kind of knew what to expect from the theatre, but this set up was a surprise! The theatre was set up so that there were old chairs and couches on each side of the wall, so you felt like you were in the room. Now I’m old, so it wasn’t that comfortable, but I soon forgot all about it because the play was so funny!
This was a great introduction to Shakespeare since they spoke English, except for the Hamlet parts (my husband hates Shakespeare but I kind of understand it because I’ve seen so many of these plays in the past). I was really impressed.
They were all good, including the two lead actors, but there was one really good actor, who in my opinion kind of blew the other actors away. Maybe it was the material, but the slimy director did such a good job I kept forgetting I was in a play when he talked (and no I don’t know him! LOL)
Anyway, I will definitely go see some of there shows again!

Live theater is expensive, so I’m always a little uncertain about unknowns. Good performances are worth every penny, but bad theater makes me so sad that I wasted my money. Unfortunately, Intrepid falls into the latter category.
The shows are in a high school auditorium. A very nice high school auditorium, but still. Maybe that colored my impressions. Overall the performances were good, but not amazing. When I saw Hamlet though, I could not stand the actor playing Hamlet. He started out with a crazed, desperate performance which left the character with no room to change. That would have been fine for the last act, but a story needs an emotional arc. If Hamlet is in a frenzied madness from the moment he steps onto the stage, there’s figuratively nowhere to go. Unfortunately, this guy is also the artistic director and it seems like he usually (always?) takes the lead role.
They offer reduced priced tickets through Groupon-​type deals and Goldstar, but even at a discount, I’m not impressed. If you want to see Shakespeare, go to the Old Globe. The tickets are more expensive, but the productions are just so much better.

My favorite local professional company so far. Affordable price, professional performance, and friendly environment! I’ve been into their plays since Season 2. Now it is the beginning of Season 4. Can’t wait for «A Midsummer Night’s Dream»!

We saw Richard II last year and we were hooked. When we saw that there was a season ticket package available on Groupon, we didn’t hesitate to take advantage of it. So far, we’ve been back for An Enemy of the People, which was just as good if not more impressive than we expected. Intrepid’s choice of plays really emphasizes the connection between great theater and current political events. Plus, now the whole experience is even better since they’re in the new Performing Arts Center, which is beautiful and comfortable. I’d go so far as to say that this is my favorite local theater company in Southern California, and I’ve sampled a lot of local theater.

I took a chance on purchasing a groupon for 2 theater performances of the Intrepid Shakespeare’s modern package, which included 2 of their modern shows here in early 2012. Went here on Saturday night and saw An Enemy of The People and LOVED it! The theater was very intimate, the seats were comfortable and the production was really good. I was very concerned that the quality would be lacking due to the unknown nature of this company, but I was quickly relieved. Go here, see them, become a fan. They have made a fan out of me!

My husband and I, along with two friends, saw the performance of ‘Richard II’ on Saturday evening, March 19. We were unanimous in our praise for the acting, especially for the lead actor who portrayed RIchard II (can’t find my playbill at the moment; otherwise I’d list him by name!). I also appreciated the streamlined set and costumes — without distraction, one could really focus on Shakespeare’s language and the amazing political parallels between Richard II’s time and what’s going on now as uprisings flare in the Middle East. We live about a block away from the Roundabout Theatre at SDA, and it was so lovely to be able to *walk* to a play on a moonlit night. I’m thrilled to hear that Intrepid is now Encinitas’ resident theater company — what a welcome addition the community! We will be telling everyone we know about this fantastic company, and we will do everything we can to support its efforts to keep Shakespeare alive. Bravo, bravo, bravo!