The Venn diagram that best describes the Pint Lizards performance group is equally overlapping circles of acting, drinking, and nostalgia. In practice, that translates to performing popular movie scripts for a pub audience. What began as a pandemic project for head lizard Richard Croy and his theater-folk friends has turned into a continuing series of readings in local watering holes, treating audiences to live renditions of their favorite classic films.
“We love movies; we love drinking,” says Mark Johnson. “Could we make performing a reading of a beloved movie into a drinking game?” Absolutely! Think an actor deserves a tip? Drop a dollar in the pint glass in front of them and they’ll respond with a “bottoms up!” on their beer.
The Pint Lizards began their readings with Beetlejuice in 2021 and have performed a script a season since then. “As starving theater people,” says Karen Baltzley, “we wanted to find a way to perform in Santa Barbara without paying an arm and a leg to use a space. We proposed to our favorite bar to let us perform something on their slowest night … now we’re two years in!” The upcoming show, John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club, will be performed at 7 p.m. on Sunday, August 27, at Blue Owl downtown (which offers a vegan-friendly menu, beverages including wine and beer, and a full calendar of live events).