I must admit that I subscribe to the group that is not “Shakespeare
savvy”. During my school days, I used
the CliffNotes to get through my required Shakespeare
readings. I enjoy a good comedy
so I was willing to try The Reduced Shakespeare Company's comic parody of Shakespeare’s most famous characters and
speeches in William
Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged). I was intrigued to see how this three man show would
mash-up the tales and cover over 70
characters of this notable writer in 2 hours!
Reflection
 |
| Puck |
The leads in Shakespeare’s first play are the fairies Puck
(Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Ariel (Tempest), not to be confused with Disney’s
Ariel in the Little Mermaid. These two fairies are arch enemies and battle, adding mayhem into the lives of over 40 characters such as Juliet, Richard II,
Lady Macbeth and Hamlet (view here).
This show contains puns (which are definitely
intended) and clever injected references to politics, movies such as Harry Potter and Star Wars, and of course Pittsburgh. It was the jousting of these themes during the constant action that produced continual punches
of laughter throughout the show.
 |
| Three Wiches |
I particularly enjoyed the dialogue
of the three witches with the googly-eyed witch puppet and Hamlet that just could not make up his mind, “To
be or not to be”. This show was a little bit of vaudeville, Saturday Night Live, and a Warner Brother
cartoon all rolled up together resulting in a fanciful hilarious ride through Shakespeare!
William
Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) at the
O’Reilly Theater runs until July 1, 2018. For tickets go to www.ppt.org