The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

Published Monday 2 July 2007 at 16:10 by Paul Vale

In a rollercoaster of a production three actors offer a condensed version of the Bard’s complete works excluding his poetry. Originally conceived as a production for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this reworking of Shakespeare’s canon or York Notes for the MTV generation has now become one of the most successful comedy shows in the world.

This current version has been updated slightly but the basic premise remains of all 37 plays condensed into 97 minutes. Romeo and Juliet is burlesqued, Othello is rapped, the Comedies are shrink wrapped and the second half is devoted entirely to increasingly rapid versions of Hamlet, down to ten seconds at the final count and an examination of Ophelia’s motivation with the inevitable assistance from two unsuspecting audience members.

The performances here are universally superb and thankfully lacking the smug self-satisfaction that occasionally accompanies such slick productions. The company here is having fun and are determined the audience will have a great time too. The revised script remains a tightly woven melee of physical comedy and quotation with Michael O’Connor, Gary Fannin and John Schwab in top form, particularly when converting Ophelia’s descent into madness into a lively participation sequence, highlighting the unique bond they have with their audience.

What makes the evening so enjoyable is the obvious devotion the cast has for their source work. For all the clowning, slapstick and silliness that make the Complete Works so much fun, there is also an opportunity to learn something, however trivial, about the plays you might never read.