August 07, 2008

Marin Shakes' "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)"


Jarion Monroe, Darren Bridgett and Ryan Schmidt (from left)
infuse some popular culture into Marin Shakespeare 's
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) in which
they storm through all 37 of the Bard s plays in less than two hours.
(Provided by Marin Shakespeare Company)

Article Launched: 07/11/2007 11:10:03 PM, Marin Independant Journal





The Works


By Mark Langton
IJ Correspondent


There is a great moment in Marin Shakespeare Company's new revival of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" that strikes a note with anyone who has ever struggled with the Bard's text. Actor Ryan Schmidt addresses fellow actor Darren Bridgett with a typically florid and complex passage of Elizabethan verse, causing Bridgett to take pause. "What did you just say?" replies Bridgett, cracking both of them up.

You don't have to be a scholar or even a fan of Shakespeare to appreciate this bawdy, silly and thoroughly enjoyable romp through the Bard's canon, which had its opening last Friday and continues through Aug. 12 at Dominican University's Forest Meadows Amphitheatre.

Vigorously performed by actors Darren Bridgett, Jarion Monroe and Ryan Schmidt, the premise is that three actors have taken on the daunting task of presenting all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in under two hours, playing 75 different roles.

Not familiar with Shakespeare? These guys fill in the gaps. Know your Bard? All the funnier for you.

What makes it all come together and work so smoothly and so well are three things: A literate, wide-open script by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, whose Reduced Shakespeare Co. used to perform it at the original Renaissance Faire in Novato; the able direction of MSC co-founder Robert Currier, who is firmly in his element here; and the talents of three local actors - most notably Bridgett, who unavoidably steals the show.

While the format and order of scenes remain mostly unchanged, a lot of the pop culture references have been updated. There's a timely send-up of "The Sopranos," a racy reference to "Brokeback Shakespeare," the occasional George Bush snicker ("Mission accomplished! Heh, heh, heh"), as well as references to Paris Hilton, Stephen Colbert, Lindsay Lohan - even iPhones.

The evening starts off with a parody of "Romeo and Juliet" that plays like a French farce, featuring Schmidt as Romeo and Bridgett as Juliet, followed by a send-up of "Titus Andronicus," done as a gore-filled cooking show led by a French-accented Monroe. The histories are played as a football game, using a crown for the ball, and all 16 comedies are performed as one - the point, of course, is they pretty much all have the same plot anyway, so what the heck.

"Othello" is still done as a one-minute rap song ("Let me tell you people all about/a man named Othello/he liked white women/and he liked green Jell-O...!") with Bridgett doing the Moor of Venice dressed like a pirate (picture Darren Bridgett doing Johnny Depp doing Keith Richards doing Othello). Also quite funny is an abbreviated "Macbeth" done in an incomprehensible Scottish burr. The sonnets are dispensed with by combining them all on a 3X5 card to be passed throughout the audience, and the second act is given over completely to "Hamlet."

There is plenty of bawdy innuendo, but parents needn't worry, as it passes right over kids' heads - almost. During a quick skip through "Anthony and Cleopatra" last Friday, the children in the audience laughed knowingly when the punning bordered on the obscene, causing Bridgett to look out at his director in the audience and ad lib, "Oh, Bobbbbb....I think we need to do more preeeviews...."

During a sock-puppet Punch and Judy show for the play-within-a-play from "Hamlet," a simulated sex act (between puppets) caused Bridgett to run upstage, holding out his hands to block the children's view. "Think of something else!" he shouted, then started singing, "Oh, the wheels of the bus go round and round...."

Monroe, the most classically trained of the three, provides many stylized touches throughout the evening and quietly classes up the joint. Newcomer Schmidt is extremely likable, and holds his own admirably with these two older pros. However, there is no escaping it: Bridgett's immense talent almost swallows the other two.

There comes a moment in this play when one of the actors gets to do a straight reading of one of Hamlet's great soliloquies, "What a piece of work is man...." Most productions will slowly dim the lights for this scene, or otherwise darken the theater to signal a shift or create a reverent air. Not so here.

When the task fell to Bridgett Friday night, he started the speech so casually he almost threw the thing away. But as he began to slow it down, and met the gaze of his audience, it was the sheer beauty of the words and the quiet honesty of their delivery that snuck up on this audience and brought it to silence, the way great poetry can sneak up on you, grab your heart and stop you in your tracks. The scene was everything it should have been, and more, placing things in their proper perspective, and back in their proper place.

Doubting Thomases, doubt no more.

IF YOU GO

What: "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" by Jess Borgeson, Adam Long and Daniel Singer

Who: Marin Shakespeare Company

When: Through Aug. 12; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays

Where: Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, 1475 Grand Ave., San Rafael, on the Dominican University campus

Tickets: $15 to $30

Information: 499-4488, http://www.marinshakespeare.org/

Rating: Five stars out of five

Mark Langton can be reached at mark.langton@comcast.net.

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