THE last time The Press spotted Martin Barrass at The Gillygate pub in York, he was working his way through a glass in the company of fellow actor James Weaver.

They were discussing the art of acting, stories of past performances, the company life, and work to come in the case of Weaver, who was deep into rehearsals for the title role in Theatre Mill’s The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde.

Barrass returns to The Gillygate on Monday and Tuesday evening. Or more precisely outside the pub, where once more he will be swapping thespian thoughts with fellow actors, on this occasion York Theatre Royal repertory players Jonathan Race and Richard Kay, in Shakespeare In His Cups as part of the first York Shakespeare International Festival.

This time, the conversation will be scripted by playwright Richard Hurford, whose 40-minute drama listens in as three actors tell tales of Shakespeare in drink on a naughty end-of-tour night. As they play out scenes of folly and malevolence, their lives slowly merge with those of the characters and Shakespeare’s exploration of the human condition through drink becomes a playful study of their own.

“I first did it with Jonathan and Robin Simpson last September when we went out Radebeul, five miles from Dresden, in East Germany as was,” says the Theatre Royal pantomime perennial.

“We did Richard’s play, some readings by Richard, some by Shakespeare, and also some correspondence between Richard and a German writer about the differences between British life and German life.

“We did eight performances, outdoors behind a church, at 4 o’clock when the weather was fine. It was all done in English; they all understood it, no problem. We attracted audiences of 500 for each show, just standing around in a churchyard, and they loved it.”

See, there goes an actor talking about a tour again. Anyway, Martin is delighted to be back in his cups again with the Bard on his lips.

“The show’s premise is this: they’re three actors who’ve been on a long tour, probably of a Shakespeare play; they’re in their tuxedos still and they decide they’ll have an impromptu ‘jolly’ before going their separate ways,” he says.

“They start talking about all the references to drink in Shakespeare’s plays: playing out Antony And Cleopatra; Falstaff; Hamlet; the Porter scene in Macbeth – I do him with a Count Arthur Strong – and Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night.

“The interesting thing is that we don’t actually do the show drunk; it’s method acting, but by the end we still all feel absolutely blotto. It must be the cheapest party I’ve ever been to.”

Analysing the show, Martin says: “What I like about it is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, as the three actors realise that what Shakespeare says is how booze exaggerates every emotion they feel. And in this play, when the drink starts to kick in, it not only lubricates the hinges, it blows the door open, as they start saying things about each other that they’ve held back all through the tour.”

Nothing is barred; everything is the Bard.

• Shakespeare In His Cups, The Gillygate pub, Gillygate, York, York Theatre Royal co-production with Landesbuhnen Sachsen, Germany, Monday and Tuesday, 6.30pm.

• York International Shakespeare Festival runs from tomorrow until May 17. For full programme and tickets, visit yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; box office, 01904 623568.

Charles Hutchinson