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M onday, April 2 2 , 2 0 0 2
By CHRISTIE BOLSEN
Scene T heatre C ritic
AMANDA G R E C O /T he O b serv er
Dave Hartwig 00, performing a violent and vomit-filled death scen e for
Ophelia of “Hamlet.” Hartwig plays the majority of the female charac­
ters in the show.
Any production of S h ak esp eare
t h a t f e a tu r e s a PM Sing, c ro ssdressing Juliet Capulet and a potsmoking Hamlet deserves an hour
and a half of time.
T h e Not-So-Royal S h a k e sp e a re
C o m p an y
and
Sum m er
Shakespeare at Notre D am e’s pro­
duction of “The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare (abridged)” is
m ore abridged than complete. The
sh o w
in c lu d e s
a ll
37
of
S hakespeare’s plays from comedies
and tragedies to histories and hon­
ors his 154 sonnets on the space of
a 3x5 index card.
The collaboration is the first the
groups, though they would like the
show to become an annual event to
celebrate S h a k esp e are ’s birthday,
which is April 23.
F our m en play all the role the
plays require, including the female
roles. The cast consists of sopho­
m o re s C. S p e n c e r B eg g s, D ave
“FD 4 ” L o d ew y ck a n d J u s tin
W illia m s a s w ell as D ave “FD”
Hartwig 00.
The first play the quad perform s
in a b b r e v ia tio n is “R om eo and
Juliet,” which sets the tone of the rest of the
show with a swordfight betw een a frighten­
ing p la stic sw ord and a m e n a c in g sock.
Beggs’ Romeo, who is even more effeminate
th a n L eonardo D iCaprio w as in th e role,
spends the rest of the scenes futilely p u rsu ­
ing H a rtw ig ’s h o m o p h o b ic a lly r e s is ta n t
Juliet and rhapsodizing about love, sounding
m ore rem iniscent of the Ladies’ Man than a
typical Shakespearean leading man.
T he next script to be condensed from its
4 0 0 - y e a r - o ld fo rm is th e B a r d ’s f ir s t
tragedy, “Titus A ndronicus.” To cater to the
m o d ern a u d ie n c e ’s in te re sts, it h a s b een
.■
.
AMANDA G R EC O /T he O b se rv e r
Sophomore C. Spencer B eggs (right) as Bernardo salutes the king as Horatio, played by sophomore Justin Williams,
surprises him on the night watch.
adapted into a cooking show. As hilarious as
it is g ru e so m e , especially L a v in ia ’s lines
which are spoken after her tongue has been
chopped off, most of the c h a rac ters in this
scene are either missing body parts or about
to be prepared into meals.
N ext up is “O thello,” perform ed by four
incredibly w hite guys as a ra p song, fol­
lowed by all 16 of S hakespeare’s comedies
condensed into one short synopsis th at com­
bines random c h ara cters a n d events from
each play interacting with the others.
Then comes the famously cursed Scottish
play “M acbeth,” acted out entirely with fan­
tastic Scottish accents. Keeping with the rol­
licking fast pace, “Julius C a e s a r” quickly
ensues, sta rrin g the title c h a ra c te r with a
fluffy, sparkly tia ra and w om anly m an n er­
isms. The furious tem po of the production
lends itself to the excessive m u rd ers th a t
occur in quick succession. The acto rs are
killed as th eir various characters up to eight
times each.
The rest of the show includes an interpre­
tive dance of “Troilus and C ressida” and all
the histories played out as a football game,
com plete w ith p a ssin g of th e cro w n and
m u rd e r on th e field. Finally, all th e plays
have either been perform ed o r at least m en­
tioned except “H am let.”
At the m ention of this play, David Hartwig,
w e a rin g a d re s s to p o r tr a y m o st of th e
fem ale c h a ra c te rs , begins sc rea m in g and
trying to slice his w rists w ith a toy sword.
The interm ission involves a hostage situ a­
tion and attem pted escape from the country.
“H am let” th e n begins as W illiam s’ Horatio
and Lodew yck’s H am let sm oke w eed and
see apparitions.
The audience is involved in the “Get thee
to a nun n ery ” scene, as Ophelia’s psyche is
perform ed according to the Freudian princi­
ples of Ego, Id and Superego.
“H am let” in clu d e s an e x c e lle n t p e rfo r­
m ance by tw o hand puppets talking seduc­
tively to one a n o th e r before passio n ately
m aking out and som e of th e b est parody
lines of the play du rin g a sw ordfight th a t
pays tribute to the filmmaking m asterpiece
“The Princess Bride.”
“T h e C o m p le te W o rk s of W illia m
S h a k e s p e a re (a b rid g e d )” w a s o rig in a lly
w ritten by th re e disgruntled Gen-X actors
from California: Jess Borgeson, Adam Long
and Daniel Singer. It may be b ette r to say
O b se r v e r
SCEN
M onday, April 22, 2 00 2
th is sh o w , d o u b le -D o m e r M att
Holmes ’99, actually perform ed in
the last production of the show.
T h e g r o u p h a s o n ly b e e n
r e h e a r s i n g for tw o w e e k s an d
alm ost the entire cast has changed
since th e first rehearsal. While the
lim ited r e h e a rs a l tim e sh o w s in
th e lack of p ro fessio n al looking
p ro p s, sc en e ry or co stu m es, the
unique type of show can get away
w ith and even do well using plas­
tic props and m akeshift costum es.
Lodew yck jo in e d a w eek ago,
b u t rem em b ered seeing the play
perform ed when he was a sopho­
m ore in high school and Holmes
w as an actor, not the director.
“I w as in the audience ... and it
w as the most fun Eve ever had in
th e a tre . W hen I visited my sister
h ere and I saw this play, I thought,
‘Wow, I don’t really do plays, but I
w o u ld love to do t h a t o n e ,”’
Lodewyck said.
T he ap p e al of this type of th e ­
a tre is not in its elem ents of s u r­
p rise. A lthough m ore h u m o ro u s
w hen th e view er is fam iliar with
the Shakespeare play being p a ro ­
died, th e script is w ritten so th at
no p r e v io u s k n o w le d g e o f th e
plays is necessary.
that the th ree w rote the stan d ard ized v e r­
“We w ere talk in g to som e of th e acto rs
sion of the show.
about why people w ant to go to the theatre
Borgeson, Long and Singer, who eventual­ in ste a d of a m ovie b e c a u se in th e m ovie
ly b e c a m e k n o w n a s th e R e d u c e d
you’ve got the elem ent of surprise, you can
S h ak esp e a re Com pany, evolved th e show
go to a movie you’ve never seen before, but
from a half-h o u r p aro d y of “H am let” th a t
if you’re going to see Shakespeare, chances
Singer had w ritten in 1981 to the hour and a
are you know how it ends. Nobody’s in the
half “Complete W orks,” which w as first p re ­ audience at “Romeo and Ju liet” going, ‘Oh
sented in 1987 a t th e E d in b u rg h F estival
God, I hope the young lovers m ake it this
Fringe.
tim e .’ This play kind of ta k e s th a t w hole
T he show itse lf is a co m p ilatio n o f th e
gimmick and throw s it in everybody’s face,
Reduced S h ak esp eare C om pany’s versions
like we know you know how it’s going to end
of th e sh o w .
b ut w e ’re ju st
T he
g ro u p
g o in g to kind
perform ed the
o f m e s s w ith
p a r t im p r o ­
your head a
vised show all
little
b it,”
over
th e
Hartwig said.
w o rld .. S in c e
W h ile th e
the production
atm osphere of
w as d iffe re n t
the show may
Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company
each time, the
su g g e st th o se
and Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame s u m m e r tim e
published
s c r ip t
w as
Director: Matt Holmes
stre e t pro d u c­
w h a t
tio n s w h e re
Stage Manager: Tom Conner
Borgeson,
th e n e ig h b o r­
Starring: C. Spencer B eggs, Dave Hartwig, Dave Lodewyck
Long
and
hood punks
Singer consid­ and Justin W illiam s
w o u ld d r e s s
ered to be the
up
an d
b e s t p a r ts o f
r id ic u le old
Tomorrow and Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Hesburgh
th eir comedy.
p e o p le ,
th e
Center for International Studies auditorium. $10 General
Arguably,
actors are tal­
admission, $5 for students.
r e a d in g th e
ented comedic
s c rip t is fu n ­
performers
nier than w atching the show.
who a re lots m ore fun to w atch th an any
A fte r y e a r s a n d y e a r s o f r e a d i n g
professionally executed S h ak esp eare play.
Shakespeare, the au th o rs decided to add a
B ottom line: m o re e n te r ta in in g th a n an
com m entary to the lines through footnotes.
Elizabethan sem inar, but not for people who
The purported 11,188 footnotes in the show
do n o t en jo y a lo t o f f e ig n e d v o m itin g
satirize an n o tated S h a k e sp e a re collections
sounds.
by giving irreverent scrutiny of the lines.
“T h e C o m p le te W o rk s of W illiam
“Complete W orks” is not necessarily p e r­ S h a k e sp e are (ab rid g ed )” open s tom orrow
formed as w ritten. In fact, groups th at p e r­ n ig h t in th e H e s b u rg h C e n te r for
form the show are encouraged to customize
I n t e r n a tio n a l
S tu d ie s
a u d ito r iu m .
the script to their audience.
Perform ances run to W ednesday; all perfor­
The NSRSC adds a cam pus spin to m any of m ances are at 7:30 p.m. General admission
the B a rd ’s m ost fam ous lines w ith ja b s at
is $10, $5 for students. Tickets are available
d iffe re n t m a jo rs a n d o th e r N o tre D am e
at the door or in advance a t the LaFortune
jokes.
Student Center Box Office. To order tickets
This is not the first tim e Notre Dame and a
call (574) 631-8128. Children and those that
re d u c e d S h a k e s p e a re h a v e co llid ed ; th e
are easily offended should be advised that
Departm ent of Film, Television and T heatre
this show contains m ature content.
produced “Complete W orks” five years ago
as a m ainstage show. It w as the last show to
sell out at W ashington Hall. The director of Contact Christie Bolsen at b olsen .l@ nd .edu .
“The Com plete Works of
William S h ak esp eare (abridged)”
page 13
AMANDA G R E C O /T he O b se rv e r
Sophomore Dave Lodewyck as a pigmentally challenged Othello in a
maritime rendition of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.
.
AMANDA G R EC O /T he O b se rv e r
Death, destruction and drag reign in th e reduced version of Shakespeare’s
magnum opus “Hamlet.”