Please note: We are still working on dates/details, so this informational post will definitely change before registration actually opens.
On Friday, April 25, 2025, the History Center will become an arena in which individuals and teams will compete in a rowdy night of artistic achievement and bardolatry, complete with cheers and jeers from the crowd.
The Rules
- A fee for each entry is required: $10/individual, $25/team. You pay the fee at the event.
- Once details are firmed up, you will register your entry at [url TBA] You will need to know:
- Your real name
- Your real contact information
- The organization you represent (if any)
- Your stage name or team name
- The scene (Play, Act, Scene, Lines) you’re doing. Because different editions number the shows differently, we will ask for the actual first and last lines of your scene, not line numbers. (Sonnets are permissible. Venus & Adonis is not.)
- Your interest in attending the two free “training sessions” (Details TBA.)
- You may register more than one scene.
- Rehearse.
- Show up at [venue TBA] on Friday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. (an hour before showtime) fee in hand.
- Prepare to SMACK DOWN!
- Each team will have no more than 60 seconds to take the stage and be ready to start, so keep your props/set pieces to a minimum. The Depot will have chairs. Other simple furniture may be available.
- Scenes have a time limit of 8 minutes. There will be a timer projected on the screen behind you. (Yes, the audience will count down your last 10 seconds.)
- Adjudication will be based on:
- clarity
- theatricality
- audience response
- tip jar score (this is a fundraiser)
- bonus points for scenes that include or refer to death
- Cash prizes (TBD) will be awarded.
There will be two training sessions, free of charge, at the Newnan-Coweta History Center on Jackson Street (Newnan).
[TBA]: “How to Do Shakespeare”
Even if you’ve never done Shakespeare before, local theatre legend Dale Lyles will get you up and running with this two-hour training session. It’s easier—and a lot more fun—than you think!
[TBA]: “Coaching Sessions”
Sign up for a coaching session with Dale Lyles for your team. Get tips and strategies for improving your scene’s clarity and theatricality!
FAQ
Why are you calling this a smackdown?
Because we want a rowdy good time, with cheering and kibbitzing and smack talk.
Can I play?
Absolutely. Even if you’ve never done Shakespeare before. Even if you’ve never been onstage before. Come on down!
Do we have to do an entire scene?
No: given the 8-minute time limit, that’s neither possible in most cases nor desirable in general. You can do just a monolog or just a portion of a scene. Cutting is perfectly acceptable.
Can I do a sonnet instead of a scene?
Yes. But let’s leave the other poems (Venus & Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, et al.) out of it.
Do you want these things done in Elizabethan style?
In the sense that you will have a bare stage and no lighting, yes. However, if you want to do it like Star Wars or Downton Abbey or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, go for it. The end of Hamlet staged as a pie fight? Sure. (You have to clean up the mess.) All-female cast? Fine. All-male cast as a drag queen fest? Why not? Solo version of the R&J balcony scene? Jeans and t-shirts? Full Elizabethan swag? We’re looking for a good time here. Give us one.
Do we have to have it memorized?
Nah, but you get extra points if you do.
Exactly what kind of cash prizes are we talking about here?
We haven’t decided yet. They will not be huge.
Where can my friends and family get tickets?
Tickets are $5 at the door. Members of the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society get in free.