'Shakespeare,' with wings

William Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

In the case of the Palmer Arts Councils’ production of “The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged),” the players managed to turn Shakespeare’s world upside down.

London’s longest-running comedy premieres tonight in Palmer for two weekends at the Pioneer Playhouse, the aptly remodeled Palmer Train Depot, and delivers adult humor that flies high with Red Bull wings.

Grant Olson, director of “Shakespeare,” promises a high energy, irreverent romp through the Bard’s plays, and that’s exactly what you’ll get.

Olson’s players at the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC), include the talents of Logun Keller, Ricky English and Travis O’Neel, who with the comedy and speed of Robin Williams and Speedy Gonzales, manage to bullet through all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays in 97 Minutes. That’s the comedies, the tragedies and everything in-between. The results are comedic bliss.

For those wondering if this is Shakespeare in classic form, you haven’t done your research.

The show comes with a disclaimer worth paying attention to. “Warning: This show is a high-speed roller-coaster type condensation of all of Shakespeare’s plays, and is not recommended for people with heart ailments, bladder problems, inner-ear disorders and/or people inclined to motion sickness. The RSC cannot be held responsible for expectant mothers.”

The original script was published in 1994 and contains many humorous footnotes on the text that are often not included in the performance. However, improvisation plays an important role and it is normal for the actors to deviate from the script and have spontaneous conversations about the material with each other or the audience. It is also common for them to make references to pop culture or to talk about local people and places in the area where performance is done. As a result, each performance can be vastly different from another, even with the same cast.

For six weeks, Keller, English and O’Neel rehearsed for three hours a day, five days a week, learning a script that mingles Shakespeare’s 15th-century dialogue with modern slang and tabloid like situations. Because stage movement and timing also are a big part of what makes “Shakespeare

” work so well, rehearsing was no easy feat.

“For three guys to learn one-and-a-half hours of dialogue in six weeks, and volunteer their time, mind you, not getting paid, they did a wonderful job,” Olson said.

Olson said his RSC trio’s “gritty” performance might go over the heads of some younger audiences, as Shakespeare’s dialogue is rich with unfamiliar old English, at least for today’s standard, but that modernizing that dialogue brings to light new meaning, even to an old school Shakespearean admirer.

“People want a little meat on their bones,” said Olson. “I think we provide the meat, and then some.”

“Shakespeare” opens with Ricky English’s narrative of how the production aims to “capture the magic, the genius of the complete works of William Shakespeare.”

By the way, each actor has taken at least two college level theater classes on the subject, making them obvious experts.

The audience gets a brief, and inaccurate, history on Shakespeare’s life that is full of question marks, yet is quite hilarious.

Then it’s show time.

Keller, English and O’Neel first introduce themselves to the audience and begin with a parody of “Romeo and Juliet.”

In one scene, Juliet (Keller) is swooned by Romeo (English) with the lines, “Give me my sin again.”

Juliet’s immediate response to Romeo’s advances?

“I’m not going to kiss you, dude!” A chase then ensues and slapstick comedy replaces drama on the small stage.

Next, they do a parody of “Titus Andronicus,” portraying it as a cooking show. Think of The Iron Chef.

Then there’s “Othello,” which is read and performed as a hip-hop number. Beastie Boys, anyone?

The rest of the first act demonstrates most of the other plays, with all of the comedies being combined into one convoluted reading, all of the histories being acted out through an American football game with the British Crown as the football, a reduction of “Julius Caesar” to his death, followed immediately by the snipping of “Anthony and Cleopatra,” and a diminishment of “Macbeth” to one duel while explaining all the other elements (witches, Macbeth's downfall, etc.) in Scottish accents.

“Macbeth” offers many funny scenarios leading into a belly-roll finale, with again each actor adding a pinch of personality to their roles.

At the end of the act, the characters are about to finish when they realize that they forgot to perform “Hamlet,” Shakespeare's greatest work.

Keller becomes nervous and petulant about this and runs out of the theater with another actor chasing him. The final actor is left to entertain the audience by himself, which he does by telling jokes and calling for the intermission.

After the intermission, our reluctant actor is convinced to do the performance. Keller shines here, as he dodges chairs, bleachers, stage props and obstacles to avoid performing the play “you’re really not supposed to talk about.”

The entire second act is the performance of “Hamlet.”

It is here that we see the range of acting O’Neel and English have. Both with limited stage experience (this is English’s first stage production), Shakespeare definitely comes to life when these two put on the hats.

What finally transpires with “Hamlet” is a compulsive performance, where each of the actors play it out again, then again, each one faster -- and less cohesive -- than the last.

The finish is surprising if not mind-boggling.

References to Obi Wan Kanobi and the Iron Chef are just a few of the modern surprises the audience receives at “Shakespeare,” with each actor offering many familiar flavors to the Shakespeare pie.

“It was difficult, mingling the Shakespeare garble with the street talk,” Keller said. “So it’s definitely something you’ve never seen before.”

The Palmer Arts Council has developed a local production that will leave people talking for weeks to come.

Mimi Pippel, president of the Council, said Palmer goes big with it’s arts, and this is no exception.

“What amazes me is that people volunteer to do this,” Pippel said. “I imagine it’s that kind of dedication is what makes our community so devoted to the arts.”

Grant Olson’s directing expertise was well utilized in this play, especially with a script of “Shakespeare’s” nature. He manages to put on a show larger than the train depot housing it, all for the love of the art, he said.

“We’re not looking for the money in this,” Olson said. “That’s the difference. We’re looking for the art.”

Contact J.J. Harrier at 352-2269 or valleylife@frontiersman.com.