While I’m aware that Shakespeare’s plays are often adapted in modern productions, I think the Schwartz Center’s production of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged took creative reinterpretation to a whole new level. The description of the show stated that it would cover 37 plays in 97 minutes, and the 5 member cast managed to accomplish this by hilariously combining and abbreviating the plays.

All of Shakespeare’s historical plays, for instance, were acted out as part of a football game between opposing kings, and all of the comedies were combined into one wild, complicated plot. Throughout these scenes, the cast frequently interspersed jokes relating to modern culture from the current presidential election to Star Wars. I was impressed, however, that despite the rapid pace and the addition of new jokes, the performance also managed to include long sections of the original dialogue from the plays.

I also really enjoyed how the cast incorporated the audience into the performance, frequently running up and down the aisles and bringing people in the front row onto the stage. In the last act, the cast did an extremely hilarious version of Hamlet and during Ophelia’s mad scene they directed each part of the audience to chant different phrases and do hand motions supposedly representing Ophelia’s conflicting emotions.

Overall this performance made for a very enjoyable evening and encouraged me to go out and read some more Shakespeare in unabridged form.