On the evening of February 17th, Shakespeare fans and cynics alike packed into Trent University’s Nozhem Theatre to watch the Shakespeare Cabaret—a collaboration between Trent’s English department and the Anne Shirley Theatre Company (ASTC). Arthur's Mikaela Lewis and Ian Vansegbrook were both there to take it all in.

Anne Shirley Theatre Company is Trent’s student theatre company and a levy group. It is student run, from executives and artistic directors behind the scenes, to the actors you see on stage. They stage two shows throughout the year, a fall play and a spring musical, as well as a number of other events throughout the year. This year their fall play is a staging of Laura Wade’s Alice—a dark and comedic retelling of Lewis Carrol’s classic children’s story Alice in Wonderland.

I’m not a fan of musicals. I KNOW! I’M A BAD HOMOSEXUAL! However, The Drowsy Chaperone was a clash of cheesiness, camp, and chaos in the best way possible. Whether it was blindfolded roller skating, or a plane coming out of the sky, the play always kept the audience on their feet and excited to see what comes next.