Silly Willie: Irreverence rules in re-revised ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)’

by JAY LUSTIG
complete shakespeare review

AVERY BRUNKUS

Ty Lane, left, and Patrick Toon co-star in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]” at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University in Madison.

It is hard enough to recite Shakespeare’s lines correctly, as they were originally written. But try doing it backwards.

That is what the actors in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]” — currently being presented by The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey — have to do, at one point in this irreverent comedy. In a segment condensing “Hamlet” to a few breezy, backwards minutes, they have to deliver lines like “Nunnery a to thee get!” And the three cast members — Patrick Toon, Kayla Ryan Walsh and Ty Lane — are fully up to the task. Under the direction of Jeffrey J. Bender, they smoothly navigate all of this play’s riotous twists and turns, making for one of the most laugh-filled evenings at the theater I have had in a long time.

AVERY BRUNKUS

Kayla Ryan Walsh in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again].”

Co-written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield (who were also its initial cast members), “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” debuted in 1987, and has undergone many revisions since then. This latest edition is from 2022, with the new changes credited to Singer and Winfield.

The changes do not seem to be primarily about making the play more “current.” There is an Ozempic joke now, but nothing about Trump or ICE. (Nothing I picked up, at least; the jokes come fast and furiously, so I can’t be totally sure.) And a few of the cultural references could, honestly, use a little updating. A parody of a 1999 Britney Spears hit (“… Baby One More Time”) in 2025? And an extended riff on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” 16 years after its initial splash?

(Winfield has said that this version “includes changes that celebrate and encourage greater diversity and inclusivity in today’s theater.” Indeed, this is the first time that I have seen it with a woman among its cast members.)

Long, Singer and Winfield started, back in the ’80s, with a great premise: The actors set out to touch on all of Shakespeare’s plays, and some of his sonnets, in a single evening. They are attempting a feat of theater — and comedy — and not delivering a straightforward play.

At first, it doesn’t seem possible. After devoting more than 15 minutes to “Romeo & Juliet,” Toon frets, “at this rate, the ‘Complete Works’ will take seven hours.”

“I have an idea: Let’s give up!” cracks Lane.

They don’t. But they don’t linger on most of the plays, either. There are extended parodies of “Titus Andronicus” (as the cooking show “Kitchen Tragedies,” hosted by The Gory Gourmet) and “Macbeth,” for instance, but most of the other tragedies — and all of the histories and comedies — get only a brief mention.

AVERY BRUNKUS

Patrick Toon in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again].”

Near the end of the first act, the actors are relieved to have checked all of the boxes. But — uh-oh — they then realize that they have somehow left out “Hamlet.” The show’s most in-depth parody, of Shakespeare’s most famous work, then occupies nearly all of Act II. (The backwards version mentioned above comes at the end, as an encore.)

The characters are identified in the program by the actors’ names (Ty, Patrick and Kayla), and refer to each other this way in the show.

Throughout the evening, Toon assumes the role of the production’s genial host. Lane plays the enthusiastic newbie, whose knowledge of Shakespeare is mostly confined to what he can pick up in a quick Google search (though he does get to deliver the play’s most sincere celebration of Shakespeare’s genius — the “What a piece of work is a man” monologue from “Hamlet,” in its entirety — and nails it).

Walsh presents herself as a Shakespearean expert (with a certificate from preeminentshakespeareanscholar.com), though she is eventually revealed to be not much of one.

Lane: You’re not really a preeminent Shakespeare scholar at all, are you?
Walsh: I’m not even post-eminent!
Lane: But you took that course.
Walsh: Oh, I didn’t finish it.
Lane: I saw your certificate.
Walsh: I made it in Photoshop! … I thought that the world of Shakespearean scholarship was gonna be all hot dudes and fast cars. But it’s not! It’s all folios and quatrains and ibids …

AVERY BRUNKUS

From left, Patrick Toon, Kayla Ryan Walsh and Ty Lane in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again].”

In the mini-parodies of specific plays, Walsh, Lane and Toon are called on to play multiple roles, with lots of quick costume, wig and accent changes. Given the amount of time they spend racing around the stage and doing physical comedy, it’s not surprising, I guess, that they wear sneakers and knee pads.

There is a substantial amount of interaction with audience members, so — word of warning — you might not want to sit all the way in the front, if you don’t like that kind of thing.

While a thorough knowledge of Shakespeare will help you pick up all of the references, those with only a small amount of knowledge should be able to appreciate most of them, and even those with little to no knowledge should be okay. The night I attended, the audience included a child whose loud, infectious laughter could be heard throughout the evening. The play’s goofy humor, for the most part, stands on its own.

I mean, at one point, there was a reference to renowned Shakespearean actor Laurence Olivier. But at another, there was a fight scene that made me think of The Three Stooges.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]” at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison, through Aug. 3. Two children’s tickets are available with the purchase of each adult ticket. Visit shakespearenj.org.

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