I'd heard that this was funny, and it was. There seems to be a lot of physical comedy in it, which would probably make it more fun to see in person. But they use tons of footnotes that are hilarious, and make up for the fact you aren't viewing the play in person. The humor is quite bawdy, though, as Shakespeare often is.

I've been in this show twice and seen it once in London. Since I've been on a Shakespeare kick lately, it was a good time for a re-read. I'd love to do an all-women production of this script, preferably with two of my favorite improv ladies (you know who you are).

My husband announced to me recently that he plans to become a famous Shakespearean actor, run for president, and maybe someday captain the U.S.S. Enterprise. I determined that I could manage the First Lady bit, but if he was going to be a famous Shakespearean actor, then I needed to bone up on the works of the Bard from Avon.

So off to Barnes & Noble I did trot
Looking for ways to bone up on the bard
Those collected works were much too thick
I have yet Epinions to read and write

I needed something that was much more quick
But wait! Hidden twixt two heavy volumes
Lay a thin brown book with a mighty claim
These hundred or so pages claimed to be
“The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)”*

I bought this proud book, never looking back,
Barely making it to the parking lot
Before I snatched it from its plain brown bag
Surely this will be a literate tome,
One needs but count the forwards, intros, notes
They asked the queen, they asked Kenneth Branaugh
They even asked a now-famous classmate
They were in turn ignored and insulted;
So spoke they, their Shakespeare needs no intro.

That stopped them not from making author’s notes
One from the editor, each actor, and
Even a ghost-written note from the Bard
Finally, the play would start, but only
After a beer-filled reader threatened them
With a crowbar and language most foul, yea.

How else can the Bard’s complete works begin?
A bio and the playwright’s history
Were told by one actor, though he mixed in
Bits of Hitler on his shuffled cue cards.

Then onto the plays these three brave actors
Did stride, each one picking up every part,
Condensing to make Reader’s Digest blush.
Titus Androgynous, er, Andronicus
Was presented as a cooking show.
The amputated father-daughter team
Did bake up the rapist in tasty pies.

Othello’s story whole was told in rap,
While Macbeth got macfake Scottish accents.
The histories were made a football game
Until a penalty flag flew on Lear,
Fictional kings were straight disqualified.
The comedies, claimed they, were all the same.
So they combined the four gags found in all
Sixteen comedies, into one wild play.
Audience interaction is the spine
of this play, and it increased in act two
as the treatment of Hamlet did begin.
They “workshopped” Ophelia with volunteers,
They mangled, they cut, they made us all groan,
But all bodies were strewn in just one act.

The play is heavy on slapstick humor,
Which can translate poorly to quiet page.
Yet, any lost physical schtick is made
Up through the authors’ boisterous footnotes.
Indeed, as true humor is wont to do,
They make fun of all, leaving no one out.
Latin language is used to say “Screw you.”
Academics will get the inside jokes
Right ere they are skewered by the next line.

It’s a bawdy read that plays well on stage.
Often I laughed loud and wiped away tears,
Finding more zingers with each re-reading.
I missed this show when locally it played,
Tis a shame, for the action’s well-described.
Make not my mistake if it comes to your
Town. Or grab the script from your B&N,
And laugh away any midwinter’s gloom.

*And you can challenge me on Wllm being one syllable, I’m sticking by it!

Review originally posted at Epinions.com http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Re...

I had seen the play twice in New York City and it was hilarious. I especially enjoyed Titus Andronicus (a play I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole) as a cooking show. Shakespeare's histories as a football game. Also, you'll get a kick out of a backwards Hamlet.

One of the great things about having a dork for a roommate is that it enables your dorky tendancies.

Brent had this book on his shelf. Which meant I got to read it whenever I was in the mood too. The whole of the book is so ridiculously amusing that you find yourself torn about whether to check a footnote or not because both the footnotes and the text are so funny that it's hard to pick which one you'd rather read.

It's the kind of book everyone ought to read, and everyone also ought to see performed (if only in a small dorm room with your dorky roommate and another dorky friend).

I've seen two performances of this play -- two different versions, as the first was closer to the original version, and both included local references. I enjoyed seeing each of them due to the frenetic performances of talented cast members. But the play itself really isn't that amusing. The second half, nearly entirely devoted to Hamlet, plays better than the first half. It's not bad. I just think it could be better.

Oh my God is this play funny. It navigates low-brow humor (throwing up on the audience) with high-brow humor (intellectual references only Shakespeare diehards will get) in a highly effective manner, not too dissimilarly to the Bard himself. It is both a love letter and a roast of Shakespeare, making this play perfect for anyone who loves, hates, or is just now being introduced to William Shakespeare. Having the ensemble be a cast of three is brilliant and adds so much charm to this piece. Overall, Complete Works is a delightful play for any audience and is a playground for any actor.

You can only enjoy this if you're intimately familiar with Shakespeare's body of work (and enjoy it). Actually, if you think Shakespeare is overrated, you still might enjoy this twisted take on his work! How can 3 actors perform all of Shakespeare's plays in 2 hour performance? Hilariously!

I saw the play a few years ago. I don't know if it was this but wow. It was one of the funniest, wittiest, most original things I've ever seen. It was two guys and a girl onstage going through Shakespeare's plays. The second act was Hamlet and the first was everything else. I thought it was cool how the girl played Hamlet. They did a little gender bending, good stuff. I'm sure there was a lot of adlibbing going on. Very good, very very very good. If you ever have a chance to see this don't hesitate.

Clever and funny. I didn't stop laughing once. The member of the Reduced Shakespeare Company are geniuses who can show their love of the bard by lampooning him with wit so sharp, Shakespeare himself would approve.

It'd be a joy to actually perform this, but I don't think I'd enjoy it as an audience member.

As you'd expect, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) contains all of the works of William Shakespeare. Well, actually, not so much. See it focuses on the tragedies that he's most well-known for like Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, yada, yada, yada and then clusters a ton of his comedies and histories into small segments and then briefly mentions the other few plays that he wrote. It can be played up for some great comedy, but I was expecting a little less... lazy.

See, the whole thing is tied together with three performers that have a great love for Shakespeare and the attitude of your average Commedia dell'Arte actors, but the way they just gloss over some of his plays doesn't really make it seem like they have an understanding of his plays... which, I get it, is the joke. But nonetheless, I took it as lazy writing for this show.

It's more of a "Let's talk about how awesome Shakespeare is with some funny sketches involving his plays!" experience by interacting with the audience and playing up some gags (some being pretty funny and some being very immature and childish) between the three actors. Beyond that... it isn't particularly special. It's something you'd expect some low-budget travelling theater troupe to do at your high school and while it might entertain you for the time it's onstage... it doesn't leave you with anything afterwards. Yeah, Shakespeare is great. I figured that out by reading his 37 plays by myself. I didn't need the extra recommendation.

Hilariously irreverent and fun! :) Excellent portrayal of how Shakespeare probably intended his plays, in an interesting twist - he was entertaining, not trying to be all stuffed-shirt and prestigious. :)

What they did with the comedies was AMAZING. I always thought the comedies seemed the same, but oh my word, I was crying-laughing by the end. :) Very impressive and TRUE.