An NYC-based Shakespeare group is putting the booze into the Bard this month with two pub crawls peppered with some soliloquies and scenes from the playwrights oeuvre. The New York Shakespeare Exchange throws the August iterations of their ShakesBEER pub crawl beginning this Saturday, August 9th and again on Saturday, August 16th with a three-hour drinking fest with some highbrow art thrown into the mix.

In fair Hell's Kitchen, where we lay our scene, the day begins at 2:30 p.m. at Mercury Bar, where participants collect their drink tickets and get treated to their first of four performances and bars of the day. The troupe of actors will be performing scenes from Hamlet, Cymbeline and Romeo & Juliet plus an original piece comprised of bits from 10 different Shakespearean plays.

The group travels from bar-to-bar, including stops at Perdition, Boxers, and Lansdowne. Tickets run $45 and include four drink tickets redeemable for beer, wine or select cocktails at each participating watering hole. The afternoon of drinking and playing concludes at 6 p.m. or until Ira Glass breaks down the door.