If economic implosion, thwarted Super Bowl hopes or bone-rattling winds don't do it, here's another good excuse to head to the pub: Brat Productions launches a weekend series of eclectic shows Upstairs at Fergie's Pub, from February 12-28. The first-ever Pub Theatre Fest @ Fergie's serves up six works spanning centuries and featuring a smorgasbord of styles: ancient epics, contemporary Irish plays, surreal commedia and-for good measure-a hillbilly hoedown. Tickets are just $10 and include a free pint of beer courtesy of Sly Fox Brewery.

Scheduled programming includes:

Beowulf - Brat brings NYC actor Charlie Bethel to Philly for a blistering one-man rendition of the Old English epic. Man and monster square off, badass-to-badass, in a bloody, go-for-broke battle for supremacy. Usually a dusty English Lit staple, Beowulf gets a makeover in a performance that retains all the rollicking bluster of the mother of all monster tales.

Gilgamesh - Bethel continues his exploration of big themes in a dazzling performance of the oldest recorded story in the world. Filled to the brim with sex and violence, dreamlike imagery and a mind-bending line of action, Gilgamesh gathers all the issues of the human experience into the story of a larger-than-life hero and his wild-man sidekick.

Buddy Felch Tells It Like It Is, by Anthony Lawton - Noted Philly actor Lawton (The Screwtape Letters, Lonesome West, The Foocy) dons a beard and a PBR for some seriously demented discussions on philanthropy, art and science, and how to poison your neighbor's dog and get away with it-especially if your neighbor is a certain do-gooder named Nelson Mandela. Lawton's irascible raconteur is a good ol' boy who just happens to be the discoverer of the rubella vaccine, advisor to the United Nations and a Nobel Prize laureate. Expect an hour packed with tales taller than Felch's 10-gallon hat and delivered with a deadpan absurdity reminiscent of Steven Wright. Backed up by Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret bassist Andrew Nelson and band, Felch belts out classics like "Black Betty," "You Blew Me Off" and Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind."

Johnny Showcase Hosts an Evening with Tempo Dello Spuntino: Put Up Your Avant Garde - From the creators of Philly Fringe hits The Jersey Devil and The Giant Squid comes an evening of madcap tom-foolery. Bradley Wrenn, Justin Jain, Brendon Gawel and David Sweeny provide hearty slices of surreal comedy with song, dance, mask and prop in the tradition of a wholly imaginary Eastern European theatre troupe. Expect hijinks and low humor as inimitable host and "Top-Shelf Crooner" Johnny Showcase leads the raucous proceedings.

Eden, by Eugene O'Brien, directed by Tom Reing and presented by Inis Nua - Madi Distefano returns to the role that won her a Barrymore Award for Leading Actress in a Play. Performed by Distefano and Anthony Lawton, Edenis a heartbreaking tale of two people living archetypal Irish lives of quiet desperation. Intersecting monologues detail a marriage that has fallen victim to drink, delusions and lack of communication. After their anniversary plans turn disastrous, Breda and Billy must finally begin to confront the serious issues that have caused them to slowly drift apart. An intimate, universal drama about a couple in crisis.

Go Irish: The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller, by Tom Flannery and Rodger Jacobs - An intense one-man show that examines the soul in afterlife of the late Pulitzer Prize winning playwright ("That Championship Season") and film and television actor ("The Exorcist", "F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood") Jason Miller. Stuck in purgatory until he can answer-in a battered, loose leaf notebook, no less-for the mess that his life became before he died of a massive heart attack in 2001, Miller walks us through the shattered detritus of his career and alcoholic existence, a deeply troubled man who turned his back on Hollywood and stumbled home to Scranton, PA, to become the town drunk. Go Irish is a classic pub tale performed by actor Bob Hughes, a Scranton native and childhood friend of Miller.

Listings Information
Brat Productions Presents Pub Theatre Fest @ Fergie's
All shows approximately 1 hour in length
Tickets: $10, including a free pint of Sly Fox beer
Location: Upstairs at Fergie's Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia

Production Calendar:

Thursday, Feb. 12 - 7PM: Beowulf, adapted & performed by Charlie Bethel

Friday, Feb. 13 - 9PM: Gilgamesh, adapted & performed by Charlie Bethel

Saturday, Feb 14 -8PM: Beowulf

Thursday, Feb. 19 - 7PM: Gilgamesh

Friday, Feb. 20 - 9PM: Beowulf

Saturday, Feb. 21 - 8PM: Buddy Felch Tells It Like It Is, written & performed by Anthony Lawton; with Andrew Nelson and Band

Thursday, Feb. 26 - 7PM: Johnny Showcase Hosts an Evening with Tempo Dello Spuntino: Put Up Your Avant Garde, written & performed by Bradley Wrenn, Justin Jain, Brendon Gawel and David Sweeny

Friday, Feb. 27 - 9PM: Eden, by Eugene O'Brien, directed by Tom Reing & presented by Inis Nua; performed by Madi Distefano and Anthony Lawton

Saturday, Feb. 28 - 8PM: Go Irish: The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller, by Tom Flannery & Rodger Jacobs; performed by Bob Hughes

For more information, please visit www.bratproductions.org.