Welcome back to live theatre! May River Theatre is very excited to return to producing shows after our theatrical shutdown.
After 15 long months of Covid lockdown and with a light gradually appearing at the end of this long tunnel, many of us have been through the Complete Works of Netflix, arrived at the end of the internet and are finally ready to re-emerge into the world of live performance. With our home stage (and rehearsal space) at the Ulmer Auditorium in Bluffton Town Hall firmly locked down, when we started rehearsals we didn't even know if we would have a place to perform!
To say that this has been an unusual process would be putting it mildly. But, with a stellar (and not to mention brave) troupe of actors, an irreplaceable stage manager, our hard-working President Beth Schlieger and the support of friends and family we have arrived. It is a testament to the talent and commitment of the cast and crew that they can pull off performances in venues where they have never rehearsed.
The show itself was chosen because we felt that our community could really use a big belly laugh which The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) provides. Originally devised by members of The Reduced Shakespeare Company in the 1980s with a revision in 2007, the play has been performed worldwide.
The production has more in common with the performances of Shakespeare's works during his lifetime than our more modern understanding of how to "do Shakespeare" The first audiences at the Globe in the 16th and 17th Century were a rowdy bunch who would eat, drink, shout and swear at the performers who in their turn would give as good as they got! Not the polite audiences you will find in Broadway! Similarly, "Complete Works" breaks the "fourth wall" convention of traditional theatre with the cast interacting and directly addressing and welcoming participation from audience members. Also, as in Shakespeare's time, men play women and in our show women play men too.
You might think that as a British woman, Shakespearean literature runs through my veins, but that isn’t really the case. However, comedy is definitely in my blood! In the “old country” we have two responses to all of life’s major events, be they death, divorce, war or pandemic: first we put the kettle on to make a cup of tea and then we crack jokes - most often of the naughty variety. If I have learnt one lesson from this production it is that Will had a great, British sense of humor, not to mention comic timing.
Although Complete Works is at its essence a comedy which probably has more in common with The Three Stooges than with high art, it does this with great respect to Shakespeare's work. The script is rich with information about the man, his life and his work. When asked whether he thought that the show was a dumbing down of Shakespeare, Adam Long, who created and played the original "Joe" character said, "The opposite is true... when works of literature are considered worthy and are segregated off you get ghettoisation." I agree, and would add that laughter brings people together, breaks down defenses and is the perfect antidote to a year like the one we have just had.
So, would Shakespeare approve? "Shakespeare would not only approve of the play, he would go bowling with them after the performance" (Jess Winfield)
