Chesapeake Shakespeare Company continues its 2019-2020 Season with the interactive parody of Shakespeare's works, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), directed by CSC Founding Artistic Director Ian Gallanar. Complete Works runs Mar. 6-29, with previews Mar. 4-5, and press night Mar. 6.
Complete Works, by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, is a fast-paced, crowd-pleasing comedy with three actors creatively reenacting and merging 37 Shakespeare plays in 97 minutes. Highlights include Titus Andronicus as a cooking show, Othello through a rap song, and the record for shortest production of Hamlet at 43 seconds. First staged in 1987 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and holding the record for longest-running London play (for nine years), Complete Works has a reputation for entertaining both Shakespeare lovers and haters with its inclusion of pop culture, audience participation and inventive interpretation of the Bard's works.
"Complete Works is a way for us to bite the hand that feeds us," says Ian Gallanar, Director and CSC Founding Artistic Director. "It is a chance for us to not take ourselves too seriously. It is a funny show and we have funny actors performing it."
Complete Works features three actors who perform as themselves, often improvising to incorporate pop culture and local references. The three actors performing CSC's production are CSC Resident Acting Company Members Gregory Burgess and Elliott Kashner, and Helen Hayes Award Winner Matthew R. Wilson.
The Complete Works of Williams Shakespeare (Abridged) opens Friday, Mar. 6, with previews Mar. 4 and 5, and closes Sunday, Mar. 29. For more information, visit www.chesapeareshakespeare.com or call the box office at 410-244-8570. Press night is Friday, Mar. 6. Tickets are $19-$53.
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