By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
Arizona Rose photo
Stephanie Howell (left) and Daniel Hagberg join Steve McKee to chop up the best intentions of William Shakespeare in depicting "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)."
My favorite vaudeville expression of all time, "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." comes to life in the Arizona Rose Theatre Company presentation of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," directed by Mark Klugheit working from the script by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, which premiered in 1987.
Sure enough, there is lots of dying on stage and, compared to the comedy, it does look pretty easy.
The laughs call for lots of scrambling and general jumping around as a cast of three people with a trunk load of fancy period costumes make at least a passing reference to all of the Bard's plays and many of his famous quotations, as well as his sonnets and several additional plays the scholars believe Shakespeare might have also written.
Don't worry, no matter how much you don't know about the fabled playwright, his works are as essential to our culture as vitamin D is to our nutrition. You will recognize most of what's going on.
"Abridged" was originally written to be performed by three men -- as all of Shakespeare's plays were first performed by men, according to the custom of those times,
Klugheit uses two men (one with a full beard) and one woman to achieve a different effect altogether. If you've always thought Juliet should have a full face of facial hair, here's your chance to find out for sure.
Just remember, in this production, a long flowing wig is what identifies the character as female. Indeed, watching will require lots more than the usual suspension of disbelief...but that is also a big part of the fun.
In the cast are Stephanie Howell, Steve McKee and Daniel Hagberg (with the beard). Here's how it goes for two hours, including intermission.
Getting the lion's share of attention are "Romeo and Juliet" at the beginning and later "Hamlet," which fills most of Act Two. Everything else is jammed into the middle.
From it's very first production, the playwrights have always encouraged directors to add their own topical references and updates.
So right away we find Romeo and his pals moving to disco beats at the big dance and then getting into some kung-fu fighting. Later it is noted how the hooded priest with the poison looks like Obi-wan Kenobi.
In doing "Othello" we get a little flirting with proper political correctness terminology in wondering how to describe Othello's North African background. They decide to call him an Italian-African, since the play does take place in Venice.
After promising to complete this encyclopedic journey through Shakespeareland in 90 minutes, the actors start feeling pressed for time. So, in the interest of catching up, and since all the comedies have similar plots, they decide to compress them all into into one big laugh fest -- crisply titled "Four Weddings and a Transvestite."
You know. a Shakespeare comedy that doesn't end in a wedding is like a fish without a bicycle (remember that one?)
"Macbeth" begins on a foggy stage with just one witch, and then an angry Scottish golfer rolling his R's faster than you could throw a can of vegetable soup into a ceiling fan (which they don't do, but would not have felt out of place.
Act Two includes some vigorous audience participation worth a warning: don't sit in the front row if you don't want to become a part of the performance. Who knew Hamlet's Ophelia could provide so much vigor.
Word on the street...for real...is that all the remaining Arizona Rose performances are sold out. Tickets are scarce, and reservations are a must. For reservations, 520-888-0509, or visit arizonarosetheatre.com
Officially, the remaining performances are 7 p.m. March 7 and 14; also 2 p.m. March 7,8,14, 15. An additional show is being added.
Tickets in advance are $17 adults; $15 seniors and military; $10 children. All seats are $2 more at the door.
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