Miss Margarida had her way, and now it's Keir Cutler's turn. In Teaching Shakespeare: A Parody, the author-actor plays a teacher who really has no business being in the education field. Oh, he tries hard enough, but in his idolizing of Shakespeare, the frustrated actor-turned-professor keeps going off on tangents and performing rather than teaching. By the time the class/show is over, the prof realizes he'll never get tenure.

The playwright-performer has a Masters and PhD in theatre from Wayne State University in Michigan and has also trained at Oxford and, for playwriting, at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Winner of the 1999 Montreal Fringe Festival Award for "Best Text," Teaching Shakespeare: a Parody runs as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, Aug. 16-27, at the Charas/El Bohio Space.

For tickets and information about FringeNYC call (888)FRINGENYC or (212) 420-8877.

-- By David Lefkowitz