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Overview

Synopsis

How on earth can three actors do the impossible: act through Shakespeare’s entire canon --37 plays-- in 97 minutes? By summarizing the canon through football games, rap songs, and outrageously condensed, comedy mash-up titles (like "Four Weddings and a Transvestite") of course! The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) hilariously summarizes all of Shakespeare’s plays, using reduced re-enactments and audience participation. It is famous for holding the (self-proclaimed) record for the shortest production of Hamlet at 43 seconds (as well as the fastest performance of Hamlet....backwards (42 seconds!). An extremely popular play that ran in London for nine years and has enjoyed countless productions in various languages playing throughout the world, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) entertains and teaches audiences facts about Shakespeare, while ensuring them a rollicking good time.

2010 Revised Edition: To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s classic farce, two of its original writer/performers (Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield) thoroughly revised the show to bring it up to date for 21st-century audiences, incorporating some of the funniest material from the numerous amateur and professional productions that have been performed throughout the world. This includes the cast: 3 total (3 male, as written; gender-diverse and/or expanded casts welcome)

2022 Revised Again Edition: The original version was followed by the 2010 Revised Edition, and this latest “Revised Again” Edition includes more changes that celebrate and encourage greater diversity and inclusivity in today’s theater.

Editor's Note: While this is a summary of character types that are written in the script, the authors stress that The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a highly improvisational piece and the actors can change things according to their personalities, contemporary popular references, and/or the nature of the target audience.

Show Information

Text And Format
Jess Winfield , Adam Long , Daniel Singer
Category
Play
Age Guidance
Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
1987
Genres
Comedy, Parody, Farce
Settings
Simple/No Set, Unit/Single Set, Period, Contemporary
Time & Place
Present Day, Any theater stage
Cast Size
small
Ideal For
fringe festivals, high school, college / university theatre, regional theatre, College/University, Community Theatre, High School, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Professional Theatre, Ensemble Cast, Diverse Cast, Large Cast, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult Characters

Context

Plot

Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

The "Adam" Character

Lead

Male

Non-singer

The “Daniel” character

Lead

Male

Non-singer

The “Jess” character

Lead

Either Gender

Non-singer

Songs

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A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

All monologues are the property and copyright of their owners.. Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this monologue, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Scenes

All scenes are the property and copyright of their owners. Scenes are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this scene, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Key Terms

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