Review: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGE)[REVISED][AGAIN] at DreamWrights

DreamWrights is partnering with OrangeMite Shakespeare Company to co-produce The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridge)[Revised][Again] from March 13th to 21st under the direction of Becca Lease.  Earlier this year, OrangeMite Studios celebrated staging all 39 plays of Shakespeare over almost two decades.  Now 37 Shakespeare plays will be performed in 97 minutes.  The parody play was written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield and premiered at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 with a cast of only three members.  I had the pleasure of seeing the show with Ryan Szwaja, Andrew Texter, and Joseph Woloson.  Next weekend’s cast includes Aly Cunningham, Jacob Linzey, and Jason Zimmerman.

The show opens by immediately breaking the fourth wall as the audience is introduced to our actors for the evening.  Joseph and Andrew are lead by Ryan, a Shakespearean scholar with questionable credentials, and their goal is performing the entire canon of Shakespeare in one night.  The energetic trio start us off with the well-known tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet” filled with raunchy innuendos, puns, improv, and over the top physical comedy.  The pace and hilarity speeds up from there leaving the audience and the actors out of breath by intermission.  The second act focuses on Hamlet after everyone had a well earned break.

Ryan leans serious to Andrew’s outrageousness, and Joseph attempts to buffer the polar opposites in this wild mash-up that includes a cooking show, puppets, interpretive dancing, a football game, sword fights, vomiting, poison, ghosts, screaming, a cell phone ad and so many props, hats, wigs, and character changes.  Come prepared to be entertained and participate in this hilarious history lesson in Shakespeare.  I laughed out loud throughout most of the show as did the entire audience.