Pulp Shakespeare (or Bard Fiction)

Like the unresponsive body of Mia Wallace, Theatre Asylum has revived its production of "Pulp Shakespeare (or Bard Fiction)," and thank goodness they did. "Pulp Shakespeare" is a must-see, and I cannot recommend it more highly.

Conceived by the Pulp Bard wiki and refined for the stage by Ben Tallen, Aaron Greer and Brian Watson-Jones, this play is a retelling of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" in the style of William Shakespeare, and it works so well. The cast is fantastic, the dialogue is witty and somehow works in Elizabethan English and the production design is perfectly simplistic.

The performances of the entire cast, many of whom are reprising their roles, were spot on. Aaron Lyons returns to the role of Vincenzio de la Vega, and brings his own charm to the hitman. His command of the material is wonderful, as is his pacing and stage presence. And he can dance.

Dan White once more steps into the existential crisis-having, bible-verse spewing cohor of Vincenzio, Julius Winfield, and once more, he kills it. His patter is impressively rapid and intelligible as he questions the meaning of the good book and the nature of foot rubs, and his deep voice is a comfort, as well as slightly reminiscent of Samuel L. Jackson.

Yet as fantastic as Lyons and White are in their roles, there is no mistake that Christian Levatino's channeling of Bruce Willis as Butch stole the night. Another role reprisal, Levatino masters not only the minimal dialogue and heightened physicality of the role, but a pseudo-impersonation of Bruce Willis that manages to be unique and reminiscent at the same time.

The rest of the cast is incredible as well, many stepping into multiple roles and playing each perfectly. Of note, there is the too-cool-for-school Victoria Hogan as Lady Mia Wallace and the high energy Marcelo Olivas as the opium-providing drug dealer.

This is a play of big personalities, like the film by which it's inspired, and director Amanda McRaven took that into account when she made good use of the small black-box space. Furniture is minimal and reused in almost every scene, and no aspect of the staging takes away from the characters. One scene in particular stands out when thinking of the brilliance of the staging, but I won't specify to avoid spoilers; let's just say it's from here the play gets its "brief nudity" warning.

I saw this production last time it was in LA. It was good then, but I have to say this reincarnation blows it out of the water. Go buy tickets for Theatre Asylum's "Pulp Shakespeare (or Bard Fiction)" right now, and watch "Pulp Fiction" the night before you go. It will make the jokes and references that much better.

"Pulp Shakespeare (or Bard Fiction)" runs through pril 4 at Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. For information or tickets, call 323-962-1632 or visit www.theatreasylum-la.com.