Theatre plays written and
performed by Keir Cutler,
with year of premiere.

2024--Joan of Arc Ascending

2022--Civilized

2019--Magnificence

2015--2056

2014--Shakespeare Crackpot

2011--Teaching Hamlet

2010--Rant Demon

2008--Teaching the Fringe

2006--Teaching As You Like It
(Teaching Shakespeare 3)

2004--Lunatic Van Beethoven

2003--Teaching Witchcraft

2002--Is Shakespeare Dead?

2001--Teaching Detroit
(Teaching Shakespeare 2)

1999--Teaching Shakespeare

EBOOKS by Keir Cutler

French Translation of
Teaching Shakespeare:
Fou de Shakespeare

TEACHING AS YOU LIKE IT REVIEWS & AWARDS

PRESENTED AT:

• Montreal Fringe 2006
• Toronto Fringe 2006
• Saskatoon Fringe 2006
• Edmonton Fringe 2006
• Ottawa Fringe 2007
• Winnipeg Fringe 2007
• Uno Festival 2007 (Victoria, BC)
• Wildside Festival 2008, Centaur Theatre (Montreal, QC)

REVIEWS

"Excellent... a darkly satirical work"

- Pat Donnelly, Montreal Gazette

"Utterly superb! ... This is probably one of the funniest, darkest and most intelligent one-man plays to be found at the Fringe this year..."

- Paul Gessell, Ottawa Citizen

5 Stars out of 5

"brilliant Montreal performer"

- Kevin Prokosh, Winnipeg Free Press

Sun Rating: 5 Suns (out of 5)

"I remember Teaching Shakespeare as one of the most enjoyable Fringe productions of the last decade. Actor/academic Keir Cutler gave us Dr. Keir, a self-styled Shakespeare expert giving a university class. It was the class from hell. Keir pulled off the amazing feat of feeding you some fascinating minutiae about Shakespeare while leaving you laughing at the awesome ineptitude of the teacher. But like all great comic creations there was another side. You were genuinely touched by this poor loser . . . By now, Teaching As You Like It) Keir is that saddest of figures on the academic totem pole - the high school substitute English teacher . . . Keir is hilarious Yet at the end, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Don't miss this one."

- Colin MacLean, Edmonton Sun

5 stars out of 5

"The Montreal actor takes As You Like It and turns its subject matter into a wildly hilarious and gripping one-man play. Cutler is captivating with his wild, furrowed gaze, as he navigates a tight script that is pure comedy with a note of seriousness -- not to mention an ending that will give you chills. Cutler has already established himself as one of the Fringe circuit's most entertaining and intriguing performers."

- Stephanie Classen, Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Rating 4 1/2 out of 5

"So skilled is this performance by Keir Cutler, the lines between reality and fantasy quickly blur as we're bewitched, bothered and sure, occasionally bewildered, savouring every minute. Cutler's masterful display is something to see. Given the dangerous subject matter, it's also a gutsy exercise. Directed by the estimable T.J. Dawe, solo outings at the Fringe don't get much better than this."

- Alan Kellogg, Edmonton Journal

Magnificiently sleazy

"Dr. Keir, the central character of several other of Keir Cutler's works (e.g. Teaching Shakespeare), has hit the bottom of the academic barrel: a high school, where he is a substitute teacher. The "class" he gives is ostensibly on As You Like It, but off he goes on a tangent and, inevitably, into the deeply personal. He starts with how lousy he was as a young actor and then - down, down, down - to "the rumour" that reveals just how magnificently sleazy he has become. This work shows Cutler more assured and smoother in his acting (under the direction of TJ Dawe, a superb soloist in his own right), the key is considerably more muted and the work is, ultimately, a little sadder, more troubling and far, far richer than his others."

- Gaetan L. Charlebois, Montreal Gazette, June 14, 2006

A riveting performance

"In this final installment of his Teaching trilogy of monologues, Keir Cutler's Shakespeare scholar has fallen, he thinks, as far as he can fall: he is teaching high school English. Substitute teaching. It's a position, he tells us (the audience stands in for a class of 10th graders) that is devoid of all power. And this is an important point because, you see, there have been rumours about our anti-hero abusing his, ahem, power with a 15-year-old student. Cutler's monologues are always clever and funny. This one demands more depth from him as an actor than anything I've seen him do and, as directed by T.J. Dawe, he is well up to the task. A tight script. A riveting performance."

- Amy Barratt, Montreal Mirror, June 15, 2006

Captivating

Keir Cutler is such a captivating, thorough actor that words for his performances seem trite by comparison. Every nuance, from voice to gesture to dress, all blend seamlessly into his nameless character: a desperate, complex Shakespearian idolator, simultaneously endearing and repulsive, a character on par with the greatest creations of comic literature (Toole's Ignatius J. Reilly comes instantly to mind). The script unfolds with imperceptibly smooth transitions between moods and topics, in the ranting of a frustrated teacher who reveals himself through his tangential meanderings, never actually covering his intended subject yet somehow expanding it beyond any lesson. Teaching As You Like It is brilliant, intellectual humour that stimulates without patronising, engages without resort to cheap theatrics. Cutler's mastery of the one-man show is unparalleled, as he demonstrated once again this year to his captivated audience/students/fellow "players."

Leila Marston, Winnipeg Onstage