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Brawling Bard : The Origin Story
In 2013, Alan Irvine and Tonya Lynn discovered that Pittsburgh was about to get its very own fringe festival. Alan and Tonya, with the help of Liz Irvine, quickly came up with a concept for a show that would combine their love of Shakespeare and comedy with Tonya’s stage combat expertise. They submitted a proposal. When it was accepted, Alan realized that someone would have to write this show, and that someone was him. And so “The Compleat Guide to Murder and Mayhem by Will Shakespear” was born. Featuring comic takes on Shakespeare’s works and a plethora of sword fights, fist fights, and other fights, the show won the Audience Choice award for the 2014 Pittsburgh Fringe. And we had so much fun doing, we decided to try again the next year. We have gone on to produce an original show each year for the Pittsburgh Fringe, winning the Spirit of the Fringe award (2015), Best Ensemble (2016), honorable mention for Best in Show (2018), Audience Choice (2019), and Best Live Production (2021). We have also performed at the Rochester Fringe (2016) and Frigd NY's So Many Shakespeares Festival (2020 and 2021), where we won the award for Best Digital Production (2021) .
Over the years, we have developing into an ongoing troupe of players incorporating actors, storytellers, side-show performers, and magicians. We all have our own artistic careers and endeavors, but periodically come together as Brawling Bard. Over the years we have developed a style of performing that emphasizes direct address to, and interaction with the audience, along with physical comedy and fight work.