FRONT ROW
Quick and Wordy
The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspre (Abridged) (Revised) By Pat Bitton
frontrow@northcoastjournal.com
T
he Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspre (Abridged) (Revised) — hereinafter referred to as CWWS for the sake of my fingers — was assembled by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield in the early 1980s. While it did make a nine-year detour to legitimate theater in London, CWWS has lived largely on the edge of legitimacy. That edginess is key because there are few rules for how the piece is produced and performed. The actors (only three for the 37 plays and 1,122 parts) use their real names and create their own interpretations of the characters. Improvisation is key and local/ topical references are freely incorporated. All of which makes CWWS an ideal vehicle for Dell’Arte MFA graduates Kathryn Cesarz (2019) and Oscar Nava (2021), and current Humboldt State University theater student AJ Hempstead. Nava opens the performance with the newly traditional land acknowledgement and Hempstead, in the guise of a Shakespearean scholar, invites the audience to share their knowledge of Shakespeare’s works, only to discover that there’s a distinct possibility they know more than he does. Brushing this minor problem aside, he proceeds to welcome us to a world in which married men wear black tights with pride and the Complete Works should be in every hotel room. Eager student Cesarz then reads aloud the results of her Google search into the life of Shakespeare, which unaccountably morphs into Hitler’s invasion of Eastern Europe and his mistress Eva Peron. Clearly, it’s time for tonight’s lesson to commence. The first play tackled is Romeo and Juliet, in which there is much emoting, some creative wig-switching, a little swordplay, a mishap with the nurse’s “breasts,” the first instance of Cesarz’s key motif for the evening — fake projectile vomiting over the audience — and, of course, death. This all takes far too long (12 minutes), so in the interest of time, Titus Andronicus is reduced to a brief but bloody cooking show with a pile of brains topped with googly eyes passed around the audience. Then it’s on to Othello, introduced by Cesarz bedecked in a necklace of plastic boats (she Googled “moor”). Nava explains the true meaning of the word in this context and invites Hempstead to play Othello, as he is a Black actor. Cesarz then feels obliged to represent the Italian side of the Moorish her-
itage, which somehow leads to an inordinate number of groan-worthy penis jokes. Meanwhile, time is passing rapidly and the comedies must be tackled in bulk. The 16 plays are all built on five basic ideas, so why not merge them all into a single play? Now presenting: Four Weddings and a Transvestite. As a result, Cesarz frequently Oscar Nava, Kathryn Cesarz and AJ Hempstead cram all of forgets whether she’s Shakespeare’s plays in two hours. Photo by Evan Wisheropp. Courtesy North Coast Repertory Theatre supposed to be a boy or a girl, while Nava has a lot of fun with a bloody hand, but the production: an ancient castle, a staircase to plays are all covered in five minutes. a tower, a grave, a large crucifix, stone steps Next, it’s off to Scotland for the play and many doorways to handle all the necthat cannot be named, featuring a golfing essary comings and goings. Plus, of course, Macbeth, a red-headed, manic Lady M., and a lectern with a reference copy of the real an oversized golf ball masquerading as a deComplete Works — all 6 pounds of it — and capitated head. Murder leads us seamlessly a cardboard cut-out bard. to Julius Caesar and, logically, on to Antony The cast riff and scramble through Shakeand Cleopatra (and more projectile vomiting speare’s assembled works with impressive — thank you, asp). After a brief detour energy and verbal and physical agility — I into the Apocrypha (the “bad plays”), the was quite exhausted just watching them. histories get the bulk treatment in the guise And now you can learn everything you need of a football game, complete with commento know about Shakespeare’s life work with tators, referees and cheerleaders. Everyone a lot of fun and for under $20 — plus there agrees to skip Coriolanus because of the are no homework assignments! ● name but they remember they’ve missed NCRT’s The Compleat Wrks of Wllm “the big one” — Hamlet (the serious version Shkspre (Abridged) (Revised) plays Friday, July of which, (co)incidentally, opens at NCRT 30 and Saturday, July 31 at 2 p.m., and Sunday, on July 31). Cesarz, however, has other ideas Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. to a 50 percent capacity and refuses to participate, resulting a bravura audience. Tickets by reservation only (none at one-act, one-man performance from Nava. door) at www.ncrt.net or by calling 442-6278. After the intermission and a brief detour Proof of full vaccination or recent negative into the sonnets, relative sanity is restored, COVID-19 test required to enter. and a “proper” production of Hamlet can begin. Hempstead channels the prince, Pat Bitton (she/her) is a freelance writer/ resplendent in black velvet and a wig that editor based in Eureka who is theoretically hovers somewhere between Elvis and James retired but you know how that goes. Brown, while Nava milks the feebleness of old Polonius for all it’s worth, and Cesarz OPENING SOON delves into Ophelia’s ego, superego and id HAMLET. The hesitating Dane takes the with a little help from the audience. Thanks Nort Coast Repertory Theatre stage at last to the poisoned goblet, she gets in one after a pandemic postponement on Friday, more projectile vomit and the performance July 20 at 8 p.m. and runs through Aug. 22. wraps up with several increasingly frenetic Tickets by reservation only (none at door) attempts to do Hamlet in the shortest posat www.ncrt.net or by calling 442-6278. sible time to meet the deadline. Proof of full vaccination or recent negative NCRT’s simple stage design brings in the COVID-19 test required to enter. essential elements of any Shakespearean northcoastjournal.com • Thursday, July 29, 2021 • NORTH COAST JOURNAL
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