Love, Shakespeare presents Kill Will!

Love, Shakespeare are back at the Echo Theater this weekend with Kill Will!, their improvised Shakespearean tragedy. It runs Friday, October 9, at 7:30 PM and Saturday, October 10, at 9:00 PM.

If you haven't seen them before, Love, Shakespeare is Portland's offbeat Elizabethan improv group. The premise is simple and pretty daring: a group of seasoned local comedians attempt to perform a fully improvised Elizabethan play built on the audience's suggestions. Each show works as an unpredictable tribute to Shakespeare, full of ridiculous twists and spontaneous delights. The performers bill themselves as former buddies of the great Will himself, unraveling one of the Bard's "unfinished" gems.

Kill Will! is a variation that leans into Shakespeare's spookier themes. It's an improvised tragedy, which sets it apart from the group's more traditional shows, and it's staged just in time for Halloween. This is the third year in a row they've brought this particular version back, so it's become a bit of a seasonal fixture for them.

The venue is the Echo Theater Company, a small Portland company that merges dance and aerial arts. They took over management of the historic Echo Theater in 2013 to keep it running as an arts hub, and they also run circus and theater classes for ages 1.5 to 100. Kill Will! plays Friday, October 9, at 7:30 PM and Saturday, October 10, at 9:00 PM.