Theater Reviews

Jul 12, 2006 - Tahoe Shakespeare at Reno's Artown with a so-so "Complete Works of W.S. - Abridged"

By Jack Neal

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Company has been bringing the Bard's plays to Sand Harbor Lake Tahoe for decades and has never failed to please. For the first time in my experience the company failed to please with its Tuesday night (7/5/06) debut Artown performance.

Appearing for a one-night stand at Reno's Hawkins Amphitheater, the company presented what one hoped would be a delightful iambicpentameter romp on Shakespeare, "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Abridged."

In a very loose re-working of the 37 plays Shakespeare penned boiled down to 90 minutes or so of fun, it's the three ingratiating chaps who play all roles - Greg Alexander, Matt K. Miller, Gary Alan Wright - that give this outing with Shakespeare's "Complete Works - Abridged" its clout, not the script which merely limps along its not so merry way to a modicum of success. The company's take on "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Abridged" is fun, but not as much fun as it could or should be.

The play was written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company and performed for the first time in 1987 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play is largely a parody on "Romeo and Juliet," and "Titus Andonicus," leaving "Othello" reduced to but a rap routine. "Hamlet," Shakespeare's most revered play is an after intermission afterthought.

The play is a natural for a repertory company that traditionally plays the summers at Lake Tahoe six nights a week. This year's season includes "Othello," also a departure (only comedies have been performed in past seasons), and "Twelfth Night." "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Abridged" will take the stage Mondays.

Carolyn Howarth has directed and has done about all she can do (with the material she's been given) to keep the proceedings bright and sunny. Scott Gilbert has done the sets, although his sets were not on hand for the performance in Reno.

"All's well that ends well." The problem with this Shakespeare abridgement is that it doesn't end all that well - or nearly soon enough.

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival runs from July 13 to August 20 (2006) at Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe (near Incline Village, Nevada). "Othello" and "Twelfth Night" play on alternating nights Tuesdays through Sundays with "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Abridged" on stage Mondays. For information call 1-800-74-SHOWS (1-800-747-4697) or go online at www.LakeTahoeShakespeare. com.