I went to a drinking game, and a Shakespeare play broke out. Both were barrels of fun.

The occasion was the second installment of Boozy Bard, the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s foray into acting under the influence. The first production in the series was last year’s Drunkbeth. This year’s follow-up is The Reclaiming of the Shrew, which provides a welcome rejoinder to the antifeminism of its Shakespearean predecessor.

The premise of Boozy Bard is that one actor down shots before the play begins and tries to stay in character while not staying sober. The designated drinker on opening night was Tieliere Cheatem. His flamboyance as Petruchio was delightful, though I can’t say whether his performance owed more to the alcohol or to a general lack of inhibition.

Completing the cast are Aarya Sara Locker, Patience Davis, Chuck Winning, Frankie Ferrari, and Sarajane Clark. They all would be at home in a Festival production in Forest Park, and they are masters of exploiting the comic possibilities of mingling Elizabethan language with modern intrusions.

If you enjoy the hijinks in Act One, you can ensure much more of the same by opening your wallet during intermission. If the actors raise $300 in contributions to the Festival during intermission, they all toss back shots before resuming the play. I can’t say that no Shakespearean lines were harmed in Act Two on opening night, but I enjoyed all aspects of the performance, even the accidental damage.

I was not alone. The house lights were up during the entire show, and I could see the people seated on the opposite side of the acting space, which divides the audience in two. Every eye was glued to the actors. Every face had a smile.

Boozy Bard saves the best for last. With the utmost fervor, Locker as Katherine decries the play’s submissive ending and the outmoded ideas it is based on. The opening night audience cheered this feminist manifesto with unbridled enthusiasm.

The final performance of Boozy Bard: The Reclaiming of the Shrew begin at 7:30 p.m. on February 12 and 13 at the Schlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust Street. The Shakespeare Festival’s website says pre-sale tickets for these performances are sold out. Limited general admission tickets (standing room only) will be available at the door for $20 each.

—Gerry Kowarsky