Thy Hard: A Shakespeare Reimagination of Die Hard - Michael Shaeffer

“Thy Hard: A Shakespearean Reimagination of Die Hard” was a remarkable show, in fact, it was my personal favorite of Fringe 2024. And I would say the crowd agrees, based on the full-hearted laughter throughout. You do not have to be a Shakespearan fan to enjoy this witty fusion of pop culture with Shakespeare's prose.

Michael Shaeffer’s performance was blended with witty commentary, flowing rhymes, and lively banter with Charlie Pautler. He mentioned how and why he used certain portions of Shakespeare’s plays, or odes for the individual segments of this “Die Hard” reimagination. All the while mentioning Bruce Willis’s movies, co-stars, and other pop culture figures from the late 1980s. And to top it off, he used his best Alan Rickman impersonation for villain Hans Gruber.

An endearing part of the play was a love letter, per se, to Bruce Willis, as Micheal’s grandmother was similarly affected by dementia and eventually Alzheimer's. This being a more somber but important moment to review Bruce’s scope of work over the years and to mention the show’s proceeds are all donated to dementia and Alzheimer’s research.

Quickly we are thrust back into the action of the show as a raging Shakespeare supercut represents the conflict in the tower at Nakatomi Plaza comes to the final ending scene. In conclusion, I truly enjoyed the trip down memory lane of “Die Hard”, but ended up loving Micheal’s reimagined trip through the various works of Shakespeare fused into modern culture. Well done.