CBU Boardmore Theatre’s 45th Season of Plays opens with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (also known as The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)) is a play written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield that parodies the plays of William Shakespeare with all of them being performed (in comically shortened or amalgamated form) by only three actors. The writers, Long, Singer, and Winfield—former founding members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company—first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 and later played at the Criterion Theatre in London, where it ran for nine years. It has become one of the world’s most popular shows, playing frequently in a variety of languages. It is notable for holding the (self-proclaimed) world record for the shortest-ever performance of Hamlet, clocking in at 43 seconds, as well as the fastest performance of Hamlet backwards, at 42 seconds.
Directed by Mike McPhee, who performed in the play when it was staged by UCCB Dramagroup in April 1996 [READ REVIEW], this year’s production features Wayne Mckay, Aaron Corbett, and Lindsay Thompson.