It only seems fair that a production called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare – Abridged should receive an abridged synopsis. So here goes: Three guys, 37 of Shakespeare’s plays, and less than two hours to cram them all in. That, essentially, is what the show’s creators gave birth to in 1987. Since then, Complete Workshas appeared in many of the country’s regional theaters. It now lands in Milwaukee. (Also noteworthy is the fact that the original cast performed an “updated” version of this play at New York’s Victory Theater in March 2010.)
In order to keep the comedy fresh, Shakespeare’s plays are presented in a different (and sometimes extremely abridged) manner. For instance, Titus Andronicus is now an episode on a TV cooking show, and Othello is delivered as a rap number. The various kings who appear in the history plays (and, in at least one case, the tragedies), become football players passing the crown from one generation to the next. You get the idea.
In the intimate confines of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s cabaret stage, the show’s set depicts the inside of a contemporary bachelor apartment. Actors enter and exit through the kitchen panty doors and curtains leading to the bedrooms. The first of the show’s actors to enter is garbed in the following: a robe, Speedo-style jockey shorts emblazoned with the “Superman” logo, and fuzzy slippers decorated with Homer Simpson’s face. This is a clue of the things to come.
Half the show’s comedy is derived from the inventive costumes, which make good use of ordinary household items. For instance, this reviewer’s favorite device is a plastic orange juicer strapped around an actor’s waist (with a series of shoelaces tied together). This is meant to represent a codpiece for the Romeo and Juliet sequence. The overall effect of the costumes is similar to that of young children performing a play at home, using towels, sheets and cooking utensils as needed. (In The Complete Works … actors use long-handled wooden spoons as swords as they present the final scene of Hamlet.)
The three actors who have taken up the gauntlet in Milwaukee include: Joe Dempsey, Ernie Gonzalez and Gerard Neugent. Director Sean Graney allows each actor to play to his strengths. For instance, Neugent gets big laughs for his spot-on slapstick comedy. One loses track of the number of pratfalls he performs during this fast-paced comedy. Gonzalez uses his Mexican-American heritage as the basis for a number of his character interpretations. Joe Dempsey plays the “slow-witted” guy. He often appears in drag, too, as Ophelia, Juliet, etc.
In order to pull off this show, the actors must relate to each other in a believable manner. In this case, they do. They take the audience on a merry romp through all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies and history plays. This show may not elevate Shakespeare to the point where, as one character notes, “every hotel room has a copy of `The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.’” But even audience members who failed English lit in high school will probably remember enough of the plots to make this play a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
