Ross Zentner
Christian Stevenson, Erik Bergeson and Stephanie Kempf play every character in the Bard's 37 plays.
2016 is the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, and the whole world is celebrating. This past spring, American Players Theatre held a vigil in honor of the Bard with actors performing scenes continuously for 24 hours. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has commissioned new versions of all of Shakespeare’s plays, written in contemporary English so they are more relatable to modern audiences. There is even a new choose-your-own-adventure book called Romeo and/or Juliet, by Ryan North, that’s climbing bestsellers lists. And direct from the Folger Library, a copy of Shakespeare’s first folio will be on display at the Chazen Museum of Art on the UW-Madison campus, beginning in November.
On local stages, before the UW Department of Theatre and Drama dives into a multicultural production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night next spring, they are presenting a lighthearted look at the entire canon with the raucous comedy The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Revised) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield. Running through July 31 in the Mitchell Theatre at Vilas Hall, the play attempts “to capture, in a single theatrical experience, the magic, the genius, the towering grandeur” of all 37 of William Shakespeare’s plays (and the sonnets!) using only three actors.
In order to do this, of course, some creative edits need to be made. For example, Othello is synthesized into a rap; the history plays are presented as a football game with the royal crown being passed back and forth amongst the characters; Titus Andronicus is presented as a cooking show; and the comedies are presented as a huge mash-up of common Shakespearean tropes, including identical twins, girls masquerading as boys, shipwrecks on islands, escapades into the forest and magical spells. Only two of Shakespeare’s most well known plays are presented in any detail: Romeo and Juliet and the eternal classic Hamlet.
Under the direction of MFA alumnus Ryan Schabach, the performers present snippets of each play along with dozens of costume changes, frantic entrances and exits, boxes of props, sight gags galore, an anthology of physical comedy, and enough local references and political humor to root many of the laughs firmly in 21st-century Madison. With kazoos, sock puppets, a battery powered dinosaur and plenty of audience participation (including a rowdy “Jump Around” section that immediately got audiences on their feet), the play illustrates that Shakespeare can be as goofy, hilarious and timely as you make it. It also shows that centuries-old iambic pentameter holds up as great storytelling, no matter what you do to it.
So how do the actors (UW students Erik Bergeson, Stephanie Kempf and Christian Stevenson) do it? Fast and furious, ad-libbing as they go. Each performer brings considerable energy to their roles, though they seem more comfortable hamming up each scene than actually speaking Shakespeare’s speeches, “trippingly on the tongue.” With more confidence and speed, which will undoubtedly increase throughout the run, the ensemble will appear more effortless in their task.
Special kudos goes to costume designer Jim Greco for the plethora of Elizabethan-inspired doublets, codpieces, gowns, cloaks, hose and mismatched Chuck Taylors donned by the small company, and to scenic designer Tara Austin, whose gorgeous stage included footlights, red velvet curtains, columns bedazzled in gold filigree, and plenty of arches and doors for the characters’ numerous entrances and exits.
A festival of shtick celebrating one of the world’s best-loved authors, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Revised) upends typical audience expectations about the Bard’s work: it’s irreverent, topical, funny, short (under two hours), easy to understand and does not take itself too seriously. And that’s just fine.