Bier Baron Tavern’s Strange Dance with the Devil

It can generally be said that when the word “strange” appears in the title of a play, you can expect it to be just that. The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, playing now at the Bier Baron Tavern in Dupont (that’s right, a dinner show!), is no exception: the story tells of a young Scottish folklore academic (and self-described expert in depictions of hell in what are called “Border Ballads”) that finally learns to love—when she seduces the devil to escape the underworld.

Indeed strange; but raucous, clever, and completely enchanting, too. Presented in DC by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, this National Theater of Scotland production features live Scottish (and not-so-Scottish, without giving it away) music, extraordinary performances by a cast of just five actors, and of course — like any good piece of fiction — a look at the meanings of life and love, relationships, loneliness, tradition versus modernity… the things that make us all tick… through the journey of the young heroine, Prudencia.

Fair warning, though: this is not for the shy or faint of heart. Upon entering this Kelso pub (read: the Bier Baron Tavern’s upstairs bar), you’ll be asked to prepare “snow” by ripping up white napkins. Your chair might become a make-shift dressing room. And be sure to stay seated during the performance, or you might get whisked away into the Devil’s library!