Tag: writing

(abridged)

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

Presented by: Richmond Shakespeare

At: Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse, 600 E. Grace St., RVA 23219

Performances:

Ticket Prices: $22-$47 [Adults $47; Seniors 65+ with ID $42; Military with ID $27; College Students with ID & Children $22] Seating is General Admission.

Info: (804) 340-0115 or http://www.richmondshakespeare.org

There’s not much that needs to be said about The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). The title tells (most of) it all. William Shakespeare is considered (one of) the most famous writers of all time. And in his time, he wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems, and a number of other works. The task of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is to perform ALL 37 of Shakespeare’s play in 97 minutes.  Of course, this is impossible. What we get is a side-splitting comedic take on Shakespeare that includes scenes, passages, or catch phrases from every play, along with a more extensive treatment of Romeo and Juliet at the top of the show and Hamlet at the end.

Sydnee S. Graves, one of the trio of thespians in this production, sets the pace with her well-timed introduction by unrolling a long scroll that contains the notes for her “brief” introduction. Graves invites us, in elaborate and flowery terms, to share space in the theater – the place where the magic happens.

Rachel Marrs is introduced by Graves as a pre-eminent Shakespearean scholar, and Marrs arrives in a black academic gown that does little to conceal her lack of scholarship – all in good fun, of course!

Joshua Mullins completes the pre-show banter with a ChatGPT – generated biography of Shakespeare that conflates the words and deeds of Shakespeare with America’s  16^th president – Abraham Lincoln. (This is clearly propaganda designed to convince the audience that reading is fundamental.

Highlights of the show include the rendering of Shakespeare’s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, as a cooking show, and Othello summarized as a performance by a rap trio. All 14 comedies are rolled into a single medley, Macbeth is performed by two of the actors in kilts, their swords replaced by golf clubs, while Two Noble Kinsman, a play authored jointly by Shakespeare and John Fletcher, (and here characterized as neither a comedy or a tragedy, but a “bad” play) offers Mullins an opportunity to shill T-Mobile Kinsman cell phone service.

Shakespeare’s histories are grouped together and played as a football game. All 154 sonnets have supposedly been printed on a single 3×5 index card that proves impossible for even a young audience member with strong eyes to read – even after Marrs offers her a series of magnifying glasses. But there are two scenes that stood out for me. The first is the abridged Othello performed as a lively rap performance and the second occurred when in the midst of an argument about not wanting to perform Hamlet, Mullins, who has been acting the fool all night, surprises audience and fellow cast members alike by delivering Hamlet’s soliloquy with heartfelt sincerity.

Dressed in a foundation of short pants, long-sleeved peasant-style shirts, and colorful high-top chucks, the tripartite ensemble moves at breakneck speed, adding and subtracting garments, wigs, and props for each play or scene. Shakespeare wrote plenty of racy dialogue and the salacious plot elements and double entendre are emphasized. There are many references to buns and sausages, and Horatio is misnomered as Fellatio, to name just two and, lest I forget, there is high level and intricate audience participation – with multiple parts! Mullins takes an unnatural level of juvenile-level glee in a long-running bit about vomiting, and he runs across the width of the audience, even up the stairs, to pretend to spew vomitus on audience members or in their drinks.

Graves, Marrs, and Mullins have quite different assignments, with Graves seeming to take on the bulk of the organizing and public interaction, such as announcements. Marrs is in charge of history and props. Mullins is, well, Mullins – a master of quick change and pratfalls. The three of them together form a solid ensemble knit together under a banner of riotous comedy, and often very physical humor. They must be exhausted at the end – after performing multiple versions of Hamlet. Speaking of the end, in his end notes for this production, Director Joe Pabst writes, “Comedy is one thing I know a lot about,” and “I love figuring out what makes people laugh.” To that end, I say to Pabst, “No lies detected,” and “You understood the assignment.”

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Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Jess Winfield

with new revisions by Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield

Directed by Joe Pabst

CAST

Sydnee S. Graves

Rachel Marrs

Joshua Mullins

PRODUCTION TEAM

Costume Design      ……………    Anna Bialkowski

Lighting Design       ……………    Trisan Ketcham

Scenic Design          ……………    James Ricks

Production State Manager ……   Jordan Dively

Run Time: 97 minutes; there is one intermission

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

– Comedies –

All’s Well That Ends Well

As You Like It

The Comedy of Errors

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Measure for Measure

The Merchant of Venice

The Merry Wives of Windsor

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Much Ado About Nothing

The Taming of the Shrew

The Tempest

Twelfth Night

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Winter’s Tale

– Tragedies –

Antony and Cleopatra

Coriolanus

Cymbeline

Hamlet

Julius Caesar

King Lear

Macbeth

Othello

Romeo and Juliet

Timon of Athens

Titus Andronicus

Troilus and Cressida

– Histories –

Henry IV, Part I

Henry IV, Part II

Henry V

Henry VI, Part I

Henry VI, Part II

Henry VI, Part III

Henry VIII

King John

Pericles

Richard II

Richard III

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987.

Photo Credits: Richmond Shakespeare Facebook page