Sammi Ciardi ’15: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is not only hilarious, but also gives a new perspective and understanding of Shakespeare’s works. Originally, this play was written to be performed by only three actors as themselves, but Episcopal’s theatre programs include many more than that with notable senior actors and actresses such as Jon Barr ’14, Kayla Coleman ’14, Paige Dunlap ‘14, and Caroline Hunter ‘14.
In the play, the characters try to get through all of William Shakespeare’s works in an hour and a half. “It’s about a group of people who are more enthusiastic about Shakespeare than knowledgeable about Shakespeare,” stated Daniel Clay, Upper School Drama Teacher and Director of the Production. Because the cast is going through all of Shakespeare’s works in such a short amount of time, a little creative improvisation is required. The cast has a lot of freedom in how they choose to portray their characters, which gives them the ability to change different parts of the play. The actors and actresses are acting as themselves, but with an emphasis on one particular character trait or a certain personality quirk they do not possess in reality. For example, “Jon Barr’s character has a kind of arrogance to him that John Barr just doesn’t have in real life,” Clay said.
The play takes a new approach to classic ideas of comedy. Dunlap noted, “I like that it’s a comedy about things that people don’t normally think are funny. There will be rapping, cross-dressing and there will even be a play performed backwards.” Another new, interesting aspect of this play is the setup. Normally the stage faces the back of the black box theater, and the “backstage” is in the hallway behind the black box, but this year the stage is being turned ninety degrees to face the right wall of the black box. The entire cast must remain behind the stage during the whole play.
One of the most impressive things about the play is that the set design and construction are done entirely under student leadership. The tech crew was able to design and build the entire set in about two months. The students also took on the role of designing all the costumes for the play.
The cast and crew of this play have worked tirelessly this year to make the play memorable because many of them are seniors, making this one of their last performances at Episcopal. Rehearsals take place everyday from 3:30 to 6:00, along with every Saturday. Tech calls on Sundays can last for up to nine hours. During production week, rehearsals are from 3:30 to 7:30 or even later. The students take special pride in this show because they want it score well at the Cappies, a student based award system for plays and musicals.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abirdged) will be performed in the Ridgeway Blackbox.
