The conversation gets louder. Two factions emerge and a crowd forms a circle around the women. The Fullsteam patrons really start to pay attention when the shoving begins and the girls start screaming at each other – in full Shakespearean dialogue.

Who are these crazy people?

Well, it turns out the feuding women aren’t drunken party girls. They’re actors. The spectators in the circling crowd aren’t rubberneckers. They’re the audience.

And the whole production is a scene from a wild and ambitious adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Richard II.”

“Richie,” as this version is officially called, is the latest production from Durham’s Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern.

It’s fair to say there have been some tweaks to the text. The setting has been moved from 14th century England to the party circuit of the modern-day Cannes Film Festival. The costumes have been updated, and roles have all been gender switched.

And rather than stage the drama in a theater, “Richie” is being performed as a Shakespearean pub crawl through downtown Durham. As the play progresses, scenes are staged inside and out of neighborhood bars and restaurants before landing in Durham Central Park.

Royalty and celebrity

Director Jay O’Berski was re-reading the original play when he hit upon the concept to stage “Richard II” as a parable of modern celebrity culture.

“I knew we wanted to get back to Shakespeare, and I knew I wanted to do an all-female cast,” said O’Berski, an associate professor of theater at Duke University. “When I read it again, I thought, ‘This is about someone who is completely spoiled and incompetent, and who wakes up just before the end of the party.’

“I started thinking about parties and party girls – Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears. And how we build these celebrities. We raise them up, tell them they’re amazing, and then we murder them.”

Shakespeare is a famously adaptable playwright, of course, and modern interpretations of his work are nothing new. But “Richie” required a serious reboot.

The title role – played by Dana Marks, who also teaches at Duke – recasts King Richard as Richie, a doomed film starlet who is losing control of her entourage in the bright lights of Cannes.

In “Richie,” empires become entourages, and references to royalty and kings are replaced with words like “celebrity” and “star.” Court attire is switched to outrageous haute couture, designed by local Durham fashion designers. Goblets and swords become shot glasses and smart phones.

And then there are the practical concerns. The all-female cast must improvise their blocking from scene to scene, depending on crowd configuration and random downtown obstacles.

The play uses 15 different locations, including public outdoor spaces and five separate commercial venues. Entrances aren’t stage right or left. They’re from across the parking lot, or the intersection.

“We don’t know exactly where we’re going to end up place to place,” said performer Hope Hynes Love, who plays the role of Berzerker. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the moment with the audience. It really keeps you right on the edge. There’s an energy to it. You can’t anticipate anything.”

Wristbands and disruptions

O’Berski said precautions have been taken to keep the performers and the audience safe. Incognito security personnel will mix in with the stage entourage, and two crowd leaders – wearing bright green cowboy hats – will lead the audience from venue to venue.

Each night of performance, a temporary box office is set up in the Fullsteam bar and audience members are issued a wristband.

“There are people in there with you to make sure you don’t go out of bounds,” O’Berski said.

As for disruptions from the outside, O’Berski said he’s not worried.

“These women get so crazy, they get so amped up,” he said. “It’s not a bunch of pretty ladies mincing along. My tagline is, ‘So much estrogen it’s testosterone.’ Because when they get into it, they’re terrifying.”

During a recent run-through, the production moved from the venue to venue without a hitch. The theatrical company got a lot of curious stares, laughter and even some appreciative applause from patrons.

At Fullsteam, Duke graduate student Peter Lisignoli was having a beer and discussing his MFA project when the “Richie” performers launched a scene three feet from his table.

“You can’t help but pay attention to it,” Lisignoli said, laughing. “It was a little hard to follow, but you could make it out. It was a dispute between these women and their entourages, and it was clearly Shakespeare.”