Nebraska Shakespeare presents The Complete Works
I am sometimes approached with the struggle or the difficulty some people have with Shakespeare's work. The words, the language, the plots. How are we supposed to find all of that interesting and entertaining? If I am speaking my truth, I find that specific question exciting because I find that the search for "how" is actually very interesting in and of itself.
I had to read Shakespeare in high school just like everyone else, but instead of creating an aversion to his plays, those mandatory readings of Romeo and Juliet in Miss Carraher's freshman English class actually hit on something truly remarkable in me. I fell for his plays immediately; all the passions, joy and grief, wars, sword fights, the kissing too! We read parts of the play out loud, and we watched parts of the Fellini movie (Carraher tried to fast forward the naughty bits, but I had stolen the remote). And I think that that may have been the key, for me at least; the naughty bits, yes. But more importantly, hearing the words out loud and seeing the characters' gestures and actions. "Suit the action to the word" right? Shakespeare makes sense when we see it. That's what Shakespeare meant. Probably. I wasn't there, but we knew his plays weren't published until 1623, ten years after his death. So we understand that Shakespeare was writing his pages for the actors on the stage (maybe even the day of performance!). So the complexities and depth of meaning and the choices to be made on every word are there for the opportunity of performance. Maybe we set ourselves up for a lack of success when we have to read Shakespeare. How can we make the words, the language and the plots interesting? By performing them. And figuring how to perform them is what is so exciting for me.
The Complete Works is a play that attempts to make accessible all of Shakespeare's plays in a single evening. A brave endeavor, to be sure. But a challenge I was willing to undertake. I performed the play in high school, under Miss Carraher's direction in fact, with some of my best friends. It was a riot. I remember falling off the front of the stage. Probably intentionally. The script itself has seen some changes since then, as the original creators have adapted and changed their play based on their own experiences and those they've seen from around the world. They've recently re-issued a "revised" edition that collects the greatest hits from different performances. And they encourage each production to make it fun and funny and meaningful to each specific cast. So we've created a play that is exclusive to Nebraska Shakespeare, special to Omaha and 2014, and interesting and exciting for actors and (hopefully) audience alike.
What's the greatest way to access Shakespeare? Though great performances of Shakespeare. We hope you enjoy our endeavor.
of William Shakespeare (abridged)
The 28th season saw the return of Complete Works written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, and directed by Vincent Carlson-Brown.
June 26-29, July 2, 5 - Curtain at 8 PM, but activities, food, and more earlier!
"May the Bard be ever in your favor"
Expanded from a cast of three into twelve Elizabethan archetypes, the cast played caricatured versions of themselves (mostly) within these stock roles as we added a little more Shakespeare to this Shakespeare parody which was a wild and thrillingly hilarious tackling of all of Shakespeare’s work in just over two hours.DIRECTOR'S NOTES
I am sometimes approached with the struggle or the difficulty some people have with Shakespeare's work. The words, the language, the plots. How are we supposed to find all of that interesting and entertaining? If I am speaking my truth, I find that specific question exciting because I find that the search for "how" is actually very interesting in and of itself.
I had to read Shakespeare in high school just like everyone else, but instead of creating an aversion to his plays, those mandatory readings of Romeo and Juliet in Miss Carraher's freshman English class actually hit on something truly remarkable in me. I fell for his plays immediately; all the passions, joy and grief, wars, sword fights, the kissing too! We read parts of the play out loud, and we watched parts of the Fellini movie (Carraher tried to fast forward the naughty bits, but I had stolen the remote). And I think that that may have been the key, for me at least; the naughty bits, yes. But more importantly, hearing the words out loud and seeing the characters' gestures and actions. "Suit the action to the word" right? Shakespeare makes sense when we see it. That's what Shakespeare meant. Probably. I wasn't there, but we knew his plays weren't published until 1623, ten years after his death. So we understand that Shakespeare was writing his pages for the actors on the stage (maybe even the day of performance!). So the complexities and depth of meaning and the choices to be made on every word are there for the opportunity of performance. Maybe we set ourselves up for a lack of success when we have to read Shakespeare. How can we make the words, the language and the plots interesting? By performing them. And figuring how to perform them is what is so exciting for me.
The Complete Works is a play that attempts to make accessible all of Shakespeare's plays in a single evening. A brave endeavor, to be sure. But a challenge I was willing to undertake. I performed the play in high school, under Miss Carraher's direction in fact, with some of my best friends. It was a riot. I remember falling off the front of the stage. Probably intentionally. The script itself has seen some changes since then, as the original creators have adapted and changed their play based on their own experiences and those they've seen from around the world. They've recently re-issued a "revised" edition that collects the greatest hits from different performances. And they encourage each production to make it fun and funny and meaningful to each specific cast. So we've created a play that is exclusive to Nebraska Shakespeare, special to Omaha and 2014, and interesting and exciting for actors and (hopefully) audience alike.
What's the greatest way to access Shakespeare? Though great performances of Shakespeare. We hope you enjoy our endeavor.
CAST LIST
The King, of the ruling type The Crazy Queen, actually ruling the place The Knight, noble, chivalric-like, allegedly handsome The Ghost, lacking corporeal form, spooky, dead The Bastard, illegitimate, jerk-face, actually handsome The Young Lover, Virgo, partial to beards and cats The Moor, you racist! The Clown, funny, high expectations, no pressure The Bawdy Servant, lacking moral aptitude The Girl In Disguise, a girl (in disguise) The Scholar, proficient in MLA and APA format The Trickster, of the tricking type DESIGN AND PRODUCTION STAFF Scenic Designer Lighting Designer Costume Designer Sound Designer Production Stage Manager Fight Director Properties Master Assistant Stage Manager Assistant Director Assistant Costume Designer Stage Management Intern *Appears courtesy of Actors Equity Association | Richard McWilliams* Moira Mangiameli Jack Mackie Gregg Mozgala* Konrad Case Sarah Carlson-Brown Raydell Cordell III Brendan Ragan* Mallory Freilich Katlynn Yost Dan Chevalier Anna Jordan Paul Pape Craig S. Moxon Lindsay Pape Jimmy Reynolds Mark C. Hoffner Vincent Carlson-Brown Matthew Hamel Ephriam Harnsberger Patrick Kilcoyne Wesley Pourier Ankita Ashrit |