It’s either the silliest idea anyone ever had or it’s brilliant. Perform all 37 of The Bard’s plays in two hours including interval. That’s what they attempt to do in the laugh-out loud (they hope) production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).
This new adaptation, presented by QPAC, Woodward Productions and Neil Gooding Productions, will be directed by celebrated actor Darren Gilshenan, a Brissie boy (he left at 18 to go to the National Institute of Dramatic Art) who understands the play inside out, having performed in it himself. He has also directed a previous version that toured Asia. Now he’s tweaking it to suit the culture and the times although, wisely, he’s not messing with Shakespeare’s words.
Alex Woodward of Woodward Productions says the companies involved couldn’t wait to bring this all-new production to QPAC’s Cremorne stage mid-May, with a brilliant creative team and cast.
“We are thrilled to have well-known actor and writer, Brisbane-born Darren Gilshenan (Colin From Accounts, Population 11, A Moody Christmas,) as director, and some of Brisbane’s favourite comedic actors – Amy Ingram, (Pride and Prejudice, Fourteen, Cinderella), Stephen Hirst (A Very Naughty Christmas, Merrily We Roll Along, Macbeth) and Tomas Pocilujko (Murder at the Manor, Antony and Cleopatra, Plied and Prejudice) – as the trio cast in this hilarious play,” Woodward says.
“The play’s humour will appeal to both Shakespeare enthusiasts and newcomers alike and offers an accessible and wildly entertaining take on The Bard’s work. With our incredibly talented cast and creative team, we know this production will have audiences in stitches.”
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‘It’s a wonderful show with plenty of audience interaction, breaking the fourth wall’
Gilshehan describes the play as “these three idiots taking on an impossible task”. “It goes in all sorts of directions and it’s comic desperation – three people losing their minds.”
Gilshehan, who is a Queenslander again after decades south of the border, lives on Tamborine Mountain and will be riding his Royal Enfield motorbike to QPAC for rehearsals in the coming weeks.
“I can’t wait to come back to this piece,” he says. “It’s a wonderful show with plenty of audience interaction, breaking the fourth wall. It’s educational and it is Shakespeare without all the drab bits. There are hundreds of props and, yes, there has to be a skull, and it will be kicked around like a football.”
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Gilshenan is an experienced Shakespearean. He spent a decade working with Bell Shakespeare. He considers our greatest Shakespearean, John Bell, his mentor. He is also an accomplished screen actor and we will soon see him in the second series of TV’s Bay of Fires. He is a regular on the worldwide hit TV show Colin From Accounts.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a fast, furious and laugh-out-loud sprint through The Bard’s best (and weirdest) moments. Expect tragic deaths, wild romances and more ridiculous wigs than a royal court as three performers attempt to tackle every play and sonnet in one whirlwind performance.
The play was written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield. Its first major outing was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987. That was followed by a nine-year season at the Criterion Theatre in London.
It tends to reflect the time and place it is being performed, hence the tweaks Gilshenan and his cast will be making. Hamlet is the play that gets dealt with in most depth but all the others get a look-in too. Gilshenan promises “kilts, tartan and heavy Scottish accents” for Macbeth.
And if, as Shakespeare once said, “the play’s the thing”, it’s important that his words are sacrosanct. Still, surrounding them will be jokes and punning aplenty.
“The Shakespeare’s still the same but some of the comic references need to be updated,” Gilshenan says.
And he is having a lot of fun doing just that.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Cremorne theatre, QPAC, May 15 to June 8.