Princeton Summer Theater opens its season with a hyperactive tour of the Bard’s stage output.
By: Stuart Duncan
Princeton Summer Theater has opened its season with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It is a high-speed, roller-coaster-type condensation of all 37 of the Bard’s plays in 97 minutes. It is not recommended for people with heart ailments, bladder problems, inner-ear disorders and/or people inclined to motion sickness. Also, the show is not responsible for expectant mothers.
The wacky evening, decidedly collegiate in mood and tone, is not surprisingly the brainchild of three classmates at the University of California at Berkeley. It began as a 30-minute romp at local Renaissance Faires on the West Coast in 1981. By 1987, the work had expanded, adding a second act (an athletic performance of Hamlet bared to its essentials, then zipped through a second time and, finally, run backwards).
And now, 23 years later, the original troupe has played all over the world (seven times at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland) and has added such new shows as: The Complete History of America (Abridged), The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged), Western Civilization: The Complete Musical and All The Great Books.
The current production, at the Hamilton Murray Theater on the Princeton University campus, features three talented performers: Jonathan Miller and Jed Peterson, both Princeton students, plus Rob Walsh from The College of New Jersey. Marisol Rosa-Shapiro (also Princeton) has directed. The company handles the madcap proceedings with style, but stumble, as indeed many of the revivals do, on the Shakespearian dialogue. In particular, whenever anyone is asked to play a female and resort to anger, the voice becomes a shriek and completely unintelligible. Interestingly enough, the best productions have been at Shakespeare theaters, where the actors are better trained in classical style. The version a few summers back at The Shakespeare Festival in Madison comes to mind.
This cast is at its best when playing themselves the introduction scenes are very funny and later, in Act II, the audience participation, seemingly improvised but in reality carefully scripted, is hilarious. The cast might learn to cut down the number of times certain gestures are repeated. How many times can we laugh at an actor flipping a stray strand of a monstrous red wig out of the way?
Incidentally, there are four wigs and more than 30 costumes employed during the evening. And no animal was destroyed during the rehearsal process.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) continues at the Hamilton Murray Theater, Murray-Dodge Hall, Princeton University, through July 4. Performances: Thurs.-Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2, 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $13-$15, $10-$13 students, $8-$10 seniors. For information, call (609) 258-7062. On the Web: www.princetonsummertheater.com