THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ABRIDGED Opens Amish Acres 2017 Season

By: Mar. 13, 2017
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

he Round Barn Theatre at Amish Acres is in full swing preparing for the opening act of the 2017 Season, "Coming of Age", celebrating the 21st season of Repertory Theatre.

If you ever sat in school wondering why your teacher assigned something so boring and incomprehensible as a play by Shakespeare, then "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" is for you. On the other hand, if you ever sat in school entranced because the best teacher in the world assigned a play by Shakespeare, then "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" is for you. And if you've ever wondered who is this Shakespeare guy then "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" is for you, too.

Thirty years ago Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Wingfield wrote and performed this play in Edinburgh, which led to a nine-year run in London and performances around the world. The play is manic -- the actors, who play themselves, parody one Shakespearean play after another. All the history plays, for instance, are squeezed into an American football game, or an English soccer match, or even Aussie Rules Football, depending on the actors' country of origin. "Titus Andronicus," one of Shakespeare's goriest plays, becomes a cooking show that is not for the faint at heart.

"My favorite thing about it," Amber Burgess, Artistic Director of the Round Barn Theatre, noted, "is that when you think of Shakespeare, you think of something flowery. It takes the idea of being afraid of Shakespeare and turns it on its ear. It's accessible. It's funny. It's smart."

If you've seen the show before, you haven't seen this show before, because each cast makes it their own, altering the script to suit their venue and locale, as well as their personalities. Burgess, who saw the show for the first time in 2005, near Denali National Park in Alaska, agreed. "There were a lot of references to the National Park Service instead of the normal references to the local mayor of the nearest town," she said. "Even though there's a format, there's an element of improvisation to it."

Those local references for these local performances will be developed by director Rory Dunn and his cast. Dunn is excited about directing this show. "You have a great script," he said. "The authors have written a lot of wonderful comedy. And this is the revised version. They've just updated some of the jokes and references, making it a little more contemporary, referencing television shows, recent technology, things like that." But the key thing, he said, is "Practice, practice, practice. This is a fun, playful show. Once you start working with the cast you have the chance to develop that feeling of fun before the first audience comes in. You discover a lot in the process. The authors talk about how important it is that from the audience's perspective, this is the first time this show has been performed," Dunn added. As for the show itself, Dunn said, "Really it's a love letter to Shakespeare in so many ways, even when they make fun of him. "Whether people know it or not, they know a lot of Shakespeare. On the other hand, if you are a Shakespeare Scholar, there are plenty of private jokes in there for you."

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged opens on March 17 and runs on the weekends through April 9 with 2:00 p.m. matinees and 8:00 p.m.evening performances. Act quickly, as with only 1,000 available seats, tickets are selling fast! Once again, the opening of The Round Barn Theatre season will coincide with the opening of Amish Acres Historic Farm & Heritage Resort on Friday, March 17. Famous family style Threshers Dinner will be served in the century old barn Restaurant along with tours of the historic house and farm and quaint shops. A NEW Threshers Dinner Buffet will be served Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Amish Acres is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2017 Round Barn Theatre season tickets remain on sale and include six incredible musicals and one play surrounding the 31st Anniversary of Plain and Fancy. The 2017 season includes I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Legally Blonde, Guys & Dolls, Sister Act, The Mousetrap and for the holiday season, Disney'sThe Little Mermaid. All seven of these dynamic and entertaining productions can be purchased for $129.95.

Season subscriptions can also be combined with Threshers Dinner or the popular Friday Night Theme Dinner. The unique Theme Dinner menu is designed to reflect and compliment each of the seven shows. Theatre and Theme Dinner schedules and menus can be found at AmishAcres.com or by calling the Box Office at 800-800-4942, extension 2.



Comments

To post a comment, you must register and login.

 

Join Team BroadwayWorld

Are you an avid theatergoer? We're looking for people like you to share your thoughts and insights with our readers. Team BroadwayWorld members get access to shows to review, conduct interviews with artists, and the opportunity to meet and network with fellow theatre lovers and arts workers.

Interested? Learn more here.

Vote Sponsor


Videos