RWU StageCo’s newest show, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged is an incredibly unique show. I can confidently say that I’ve never experienced anything like this show before. Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Weinfield and directed Robin Stone, this show is a hilarious look at the works of William Shakespeare that even someone with no experience or knowledge of him can find extremely enjoyable.

This play already sets itself apart with its framing device. Instead of the actors playing characters, they referred to each other by their real names, as if they were a club of real Shakespeare enthusiasts who were performing for the audience. This essentially shatters the concept of a fourth wall and leaves the actors to freely interact with the audience as the play’s world and our world are one in the same. From there all of Shakespeare’s works of literature are summarized to great comedic effect, not just through greatly written dialogue, but through some of the best instances of improv I’ve seen in any show, at RWU or otherwise.

Let me describe the improv of this show with two stories I was unexpectedly thrust into the center of. I had just sat down in the front row of the theater when I was approached by Skylar Gianninoto. He told me that he was originally in the show, but had to drop out at the last minute, so last minute that the team behind the show didn’t have enough time to change the program. He said he’d just come to support his former cast-mates, and I didn’t have any reason not to believe him so I noted that for when I was eventually going to write the article you’re reading now. So imagine my surprise when Skylar gets up from his seat in the audience and begins reading off an obviously fake biography of William Shakespeare off his phone. He then clarifies that he was in fact part of the cast before saying, “I totally punked that Hawk’s Herald kid over there.” This got a good laugh from the audience as the show just seamlessly moved on.

I was selected out from the audience for this and the next bit because I’m also a member of StageCo and knew the cast well. This meant that they could do these bits with me and other StageCo members who attended other performances so as to not make a random viewer potentially uncomfortable, which almost certainly would’ve happened in the event of the next bit of improv I was unknowingly conscripted for. By the end of Act 1, the cast had summarized all of Shakespeare’s works except for one: Hamlet. Jack Beasley, acting in character, wanted to do anything but do that last play. In a last ditch effort to get out of it, he made a beeline for me sitting in the front, grabbed my shoulder, held a pantomime knife to my throat, and threatened to kill me. His fellow cast members tried to talk him down, saying that if he tried anything I’d write a bad review in the paper, since they all knew I was there on Hawk’s Herald business. Jack then let me go and ran offstage with Riley McConnell in hot pursuit. Despite the very real threat to my life, that was the most fun I’d had at a play in my life.

I wasn’t the only audience member involved in the show that night. Towards the end of the show, the entire audience was conscripted so as to help the actor acting as Ophelia find her scream. The audience was broken up into three sections, and each section was made to do ridiculous things to encourage her. This whole moment was enjoyed by both the actors and the audience and added to the show’s hilarious finale.

Outside of the improv and audience participation, the show’s writing is also incredibly entertaining. Riley begins the show with a hilarious monologue that she delivers in both a great British accent and a great New York accent for comedic effect. In it, decries how screwed modern audiences are for not knowing Shakespeare’s work, and the high-falutinet language in the monologue only makes it funnier. Throughout the show, these works are reenacted in several hilarious framing devices, such as Titus Andronicus being a cooking show, ending with a prop pie with a fake hand sticking out of it. The set as a whole was very minimal, but it’s used to fantastic effect. For example, when Romeo and Juliet is reenacted, there’s a bit that I genuinely thought was unplanned, where the front of the balcony falls and Jack is left dangling from a bar. The fact that it seemed unplanned also speaks volumes about the talent of the assembled cast. Besides the actors already mentioned, Alec Corrado, Kristine Johnson, and Anthony Merenda all had fantastic moments to shine and get a barrel of laughs from the audience with every line of dialogue.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged was a show that was incredibly creative and entertaining, and was one of the most fun theater experiences I’ve had speaking as someone who’s been immersed in the theater world since middle school. Every member of the involved cast and crew did a spectacular job on delivering a show that’s unbelievably hilarious, and can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their knowledge of anything Shakespearean. The show’s use of improv and involving its audience make it incredibly engaging and set it apart from any show I’ve seen anywhere before, and gives it an irreplicable comedic magic. It’s definitely not a show for younger viewers, but those old enough walk away with plenty of laughs and an unforgettable experience.