Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage drew many crowds because of its familiarity, but gains little praise for its poor quality. The Shotgun Players had landed a nice venue at Abrons Arts Center: Henry Street Settlement. They still failed to match its class. The great level of entertainment albeit makes up for its weakness otherwise. Peoples that are not well-learned of the theatre should have little complaints.

The classic tale goes as such: A beast named Grendel regularly comes to kill and eat the men of the king’s castle. His strength is superior to that of all the military men, so they are all easily murdered. In desperation, the king calls for Beowulf, the mighty hero. Beowulf strips to bareness boldly, fights and eliminates the monster. Grendel’s loving mother soon after unleashes her wrath, but the great warrior defeats her in battle. He is crowned their leader, and remains an idol past his death (in battle against a dragon).

This modern production seeks to “dumb down” or overly simplify the great epic poem of Beowulf. The writers must have put little thought into their work, for the lines and lyrics both could be easily understood by a toddler. It feeds our present culture of short attention spans well. Every fifth line is repeated at least once or twice. The highlighted words were not thought-provoking at all; the repetition of them only showed how little they had to say. One must not disregard the comical effect of this technique, for at times — especially in the beginning — it worked well. After a while, it became annoying. Laughs cannot be won every thirty seconds in the same, pitiful method.

Another jocular aspect was the usage of curse words to shock and amuse the audience. This also grew old. While stunning at first, its constancy showed a lack of intellect and originality. The cast worked fairly hard, but the writers did not.

Still, the performers fell short in their vocalizing. Considering that the company’s goal was to make this epic musical, it largely failed. The two main singers played the role or representation of the warrior men. They belted horrendous sounds; they had no blend. The sporadic, uncontrolled vibrato of one made the duo sound flat. Nearly everyone that sang did terribly obvious transitions from chest voice to head voice and back. Voices failed to complement each other, so the play’s value dropped even further.

A few moments were worth the attendance. The talk between Beowulf and Grendel preceding the major fight is drawn out in comedic ways. Grendel insecurities are made evident, and he taunts his opponent childishly. They hurl insults and obscenity at one another. The juvenile scene is unexpected; the room fills with laughter.

Other signs of creativity are manifested throughout. The show begins with a panel of three people explaining the story and its alleged hidden meanings. They cross over into the story, in the same character and yet easily seen as two different people. During the underwater scene, the panel uses fish tanks with water to demonstrate the battle against Grendel’s mother. Red liquid is poured into it to symbolize the murder. The powerful color was striking, and had one of the strongest impacts of the musical. Other low-budget representations were so fake that they were laughable.

The orchestra is deigned applause; the “singing” is not. Choreography was ludicrous, and it was carried out strangely. The acting is also purposefully overdone. It becomes questionable whether or not this was designed to be a parody. The entire Off-Off-Broadway production left much to be desired, or rather, destroyed. It took a nice idea and vitiated it. If one has money to burn and enough interest in a poor but charming show, one should watch this. Other than that, the people are warned: this is something to be skipped and forgotten.