The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Play
Writers: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
- Conceived By
- Jess Winfield , Adam Long , Daniel Singer
- 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
- Licensor
- Broadway Play Publishing, Inc
- 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
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (also known as The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)) is a play written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield of The Reduced Shakespeare Company. It parodies the plays of William Shakespeare by comically shortening or merging them and all the parts played by only three actors. In 1981 the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) began as a 20-minute version of Hamlet at Renaissance Faires outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
to read the context for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
The play begins with the actors speaking to the audience about their love of Shakespeare. Their hope is that the audience are not Shakespearen scholars, because the cast is not completely confident in their knowledge of the Bard. Unfortunately, this hope is quickly dispelled when one audience member is clearly very well versed in even Shakespeare’s least known plays. (This audience member is a plant and soon joins the show.)
The cast begins with an eccentric version of Romeo & Juliet,
to read the plot for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
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Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
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Lead |
Either Gender |
Non-singer |
Songs
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
Scenes
Key Terms
The act of inventing or executing action or dialogue in the moment without preparation, often with input and suggestions from audience members.
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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