Eye Weekly, October 30, 1997
SHAKESPEARE A GO GO: THE COMPLEAT WORKS OF WLLM SHKSPR (ABRIDGED)
By: Douglas Hicton
The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) is one of the most entertaining, bend-yourself-double funny shows of the last 400 years. It's a sort of Coles Notes version of the Coles Notes versions of all 37 of the Bard's tragedies, comedies and histories -- on speed. Nothing important is missed and nothing is wasted.
Director Joel Greenberg has whipped this talented cast into a frenzy. The hilarity doesn't flag for a single moment. The cues are so tight they squeak, yet there's still plenty of room for inspired improvisation. The shtick actually works, and here's why: No matter how much we assault Shakespeare, dressing him up in ill-fitting modern clothes, setting his work in the most stupid and improbable places, his Elizabethan genius shines through.
The teamwork displayed by the cast is nothing short of brilliant. Jonathan Goad, David Young and Frank Zotter must have rehearsed every move, every inflection, every tic, until their brains bled. Watching them is like being at a ball game and witnessing a superbly executed triple play, then another, and another, over the course of an hour and a half.
Even the audience participation sequence in Act Two (which is devoted entirely to Hamlet) works beautifully, and I'm usually leery about audience participation. The bit explains why Ophelia is so loony by dividing the audience into sections named ego, superego and id, and giving each its own characteristic things to shout. Laugh? I nearly shat.
Other neat segments included the Othello rap and the wonderfully sick Titus Andronicus cooking show. Describing this last bit will do it no justice. You just have to see it. In fact, see the whole show. If you miss The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), then you're even nuttier than poor Ophelia.