BWW Reviews: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESEPARE (ABRIDGED) is Will-Fully Hilarious

Is there a more reliably funny performance piece than The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield? The only competitor for the title, in my humble opinion, would be Noises Off, but I've seen productions of that play that didn't quite click. Tonight was my fifth time seeing TCWoWS(A), and I've never seen it fail.

Post Five Theatre's performance takes place in an outdoor courtyard. The stage is simple, basically a blank space with room for entrances and exits. The three actors enter in tights and white shirts, with color-coded codpieces. The laughs begin right away, and they're huge, and they don't let up till intermission. You've seen the show, right? We get a goofball introduction, then the cast takes on Romeo and Juliet, Titus Andronicus (as a cooking show), Othello (as a rap), the comedies as a group, the history plays as a football game, and the tragedies, all with rude humor, physical comedy, and the cheapest of props. Act Two is devoted to demolishing Hamlet.

The actors must each lose ten pounds per night. They rotate in and out of roles, swapping props and costume pieces so quickly it starts to resemble ballet. (As in Noises Off, the show backstage is probably just as much fun to watch.) Phillip J. Berns is the voice of reason...for a while, anyway. Adam J. Thompson is a more Falstaffian clown, and Brett Wilson gets the worst puns and most of the female roles. All three are brilliant, and it's easy to imagine each of them in real productions of the Bard. But what's truly admirable is the teamwork. For any production of this show, you have to have three actors who can do a million voices, jump in and out of characters, and do physical comedy that borders on acrobatic work...and do it with two other guys who are working just as hard. The three are in constant motion, and when one leaps, the others are sure to catch him. Unless it's funnier just to let him fall, of course.

Director Ty Boice keeps the show flying, and while there's a good deal of improvisation involved, the scenes are clearly carefully choreographed. (There were moments where I worried for the actors' safety, but they knew what they were doing.) The three stars interact with each other as if they've been doing it all their lives, and every slight misstep or slipped wig gets turned into a bit. The show involves a good deal of audience participation, particularly during Ophelia's mad scene, but there are other moments as well. If you'd rather not be dragged into the peformance, don't sit anywhere in the front row.

Which leads to a small caution about seating. The courtyard does not have traditional rows of seats. You can sit in the "beer garden," but only if you're over 21 and ordering beer. You can rent a chair for $3, bring your own, or sit on the grass. For some reason, I missed this information before arriving at the performance, and had to improvise my own seat on the lawn. I still had a great time, and it adds to the informality of the show that everyone is seated communally rather than in traditional theater seats.

Hats off, and lots of them, to the cast and crew of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It's a great piece of entertainment, perfectly staged and brilliantly performed. What more can you ask?

To post a comment, you must register and login.