Shakespeare gets abridged in play

William Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous playwright in history.

But his works remain largely inaccessible to modern audiences, much to the chagrin of high school and college students.

The Acting Company's "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" brings all of the Bard's works into the present era by condensing them down into a single two-hour performance.

"The Complete Works" begins Friday and runs to Feb. 22.

The format of the play is simple: "It's basically a compilation of all of Shakespeare's works abridged — very abridged," said director Joe Moye. "It's every play Shakespeare wrote in (less than) two hours, and (the performers) pretty much misrepreprent all of it, but in a humorous way."

Anthony Dost, Mark Johnson and Jeff Graham are the three performers. All act out various scenes from Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies, giving a concise summary of the plots and the main ideas.

"It's all in fun, and it's very funny," Moye said. "It's not Shakespeare in the common sense. If you come to see it, you're not going to get bored to death with lots of Shakespearean dialogue. ... It covers Shakespeare in a very broad sense."

For this reason, "The Complete Works" makes the Bard accessible to modern audiences. "(The play) was written for the average person," Moye said. "It pokes fun at Shakespeare and the way (he) is portrayed in society."

Moye's experience in a previous production of "The Complete Works" was what motivated him to direct the play. "I was one of the performers in this about six years ago, and it was one of the most entertaining plays to do as an actor."

Part of the presentation of Shakespeare's works involves breaking the fourth wall — meaning that the performers are aware they're performers and address the audience directly.

"There's a lot of audience participation (in the play)," Moye said. The players interact with the audience, and at one point, three members of the audience are invited to become part of the play.

"In these days, a good laugh is going to be necessary to get through the day, and this is definitely a good laugh," Moye said. "You're gonna laugh; you're gonna have a lot of fun. For a couple of hours, you get to come join the very warped world of Shakespeare."

"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)"

Times: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; runs to Feb. 22

Where: The Acting Company, 815 B St., Yuba City

Tickets: $15. Call 751-1100 or online at actingcompany.org