By Jennifer Mustoe and Craig Mustoe
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a show that all aficianados of the Bard should see and Grassroots Shakespeare Company‘s is one you can see soon–so don’t delay. This hilarious, always changing piece by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield is a must see for anyone who loves or even hates Shakespeare. And if you’ve never seen anything by Shakespeare, you’ll still love Complete Works.
This show employs three actors, and those chosen for this production are some of Grassroots Shakespeare Company’s best. Before the show, they disclosed that they’d only had three rehearsals. Wow, way to make an actress feel inept. These three men: Steven Pond, Nick Grossaint, and Tyler Harris are talented, over the top funny, and for this show, marvelously athletic actors. Abridged requires a ton of memorization, a ton of improv skill, a ton of athleticism because this show goes quick quick quick, and they’re changing costume pieces and wigs all the time and playing off one another in what I know is ad lib because I know the script.
Once upon a time, I rehearsed for this show and it’s still on my bucket list to perform it. So while watching last night’s late (“curtain” at 10:30 PM) production, I ran through the lines and the blocking that we’d rehearsed for our version. (The theater closed, so we were its last great show that never was produced. Hashtag boohoo) The premise of Complete Works is to give the audience an overview of what Shakespeare wrote, namely comedies, tragedies, histories, and the “other” plays. But since we only have an hour and a half, how to mush all those together for one production? By smushing all the genres together and present one eensy bit of a few representatives of each type.
Of course, Romeo and Juliet with Pond as Juliet, Grossaint as Romeo is ridiculously funny. Who doesn’t like making fun of those two crazy young lovers? The obvious joke is two men kissing and the tussle that ensues. And the iconic balcony scene. GSC’s stage has ladders on each side of it, so this is especially funny with the layers the ladders afford. But all the hilarity that goes into this, one forgets that R&J is a tragedy. I think that may be one of the points the writers of the play are getting at. Shakespeare is very easy to parody and mock, and this show does it very well.
To demonstrate the tragedies, first up in Titus Andronicus as a cooking show. It is funny and because it’s also kind of gross, I’m not going to give you the details, but it’s way funnier than it is gross. Or maybe it’s way funnier because it’s gross. Whatever. They didn’t do it Julia Child style, as I’ve seen it done before and good for them. It was their brand of funny, disgusting, tongue-cut-out cooking show, a la GSC. Mmm, yummy. Next they perform Othello as a rap. This was good and having just seen the play addressing the green-eyed monster at Utah Shakespeare Festival, it did lighten things up for me. I will admit, this rap is probably funniest to people who are familiar with Othello. Other tragedies are thus reduced, mocked, and created to delight the audience. A football game, a duel, a Scottish accent–you get the drift.
Though the script calls for an intermission, GSC chose not to have one, and because of the late hour (and the complete attack mode from all the bugs in Provo City converging above the Castle Amphitheater), I was grateful. The show is quick and with no intermission, it’s doable. These three actors are more than up for the challenge to just bust through and get ‘er done.
The second act just gives the entire discussion to Hamlet. I admit, I laughed a bit remembering the same type of mockery in Something Rotten. It’s sort of pathetic that such an amazing work as Hamlet can be used as the butt of so many jokes and can be so easily mocked. But I. Love. It. Is that the greatest form of flattery? That you can make dozens of jokes about your iconic characters, scenes, and themes? Maybe so.
Pond as Ophelia is positively hilarious. Grossaint plays all kinds of characters and his voices and mannerisms are not only different, they are darling–got a laugh every time. And who better to play the melancholy Dane than one of Utah’s finest comedy actors, Harris? These three kill it in Hamlet. Oh my gosh, do ya see what I did just there? I’ve caught the punny hilarity bug from Abridged. And shout out to GSC’s musicians, who also make an appearance in Abridged: Robert Starks and Scott Robinson.
Note: I would say this show is rated just over PG-13. I know it can be toned down to PG (and the script writers encourage this–rewrite to suit your audience), and all the way up to R. It can be bloody gross and profane and nasty or very tame. GSC has chosen to put in a few sexy terms and themes, very little gore and swears, if any, and all the laughs. Because it is showing at 10:30 PM, any kid that can stay up this late to see the show can handle its rather mild sexuality and profanity and gore.
My husband, the retired high school and community college English teacher, loves Shakespeare a lot more than I do, though I appreciate the Bard as much as the next person, maybe a little more. Craig laughed at all the jokes that were aimed at intellectuals, and there were quite a few. He laughed at the hugely funny physical comedy. He laughed at all the mocking of the iconic Shakespeare characters. What I’m trying to say here is The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) has something for everyone. It will be played in the upcoming Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, and you will want to go see it when it shows. And you definitely need to see it tonight (Saturday, July 14, 2018) as part of GSC’s end of summer Triple Header with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Two Noble Kinsmen. (I asked Craig what was funniest in the show. After thinking a bit he said, “But(t) love.” Go see the show to see what this means and be ready to laugh.)
Seating instructions: As I said, there are bugs. Wear a light long sleever and long pants. Wear shoes that can easily walk on the Castle’s rock seating (it’s a little tricky in the dark), sit as close to the middle as possible to stay away from the lights that attracts bugs a-plenty, put on insect repellent, and bring a blanket to sit on if you don’t want to sit in their plastic chairs.
Grassroots Shakespeare Company presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare and Shakespeare Abridged by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield
Castle Amphitheatre, 1300 E Center Street, Provo, UT 84606
Midsummer (7:30 PM), Kinsmen (8:45 PM), Abridged (10:15 PM)
Tickets: $15.00 (for all three!)
Contact: 707-722-7529
Grassroots Shakespeare Company Facebook Page
Grassroots Shakespeare Company’s Triple Header Facebook Event
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