Shakespeare marathon

This week, the First Group Theatre stages all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays Discuss this article

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It was in the late ’80s that US trio the Reduced Shakespeare Company first performed all 37 of the Bard’s plays in little more than an hour; since then, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) has remained one of the most popular shows on the worldwide theatrical circuit. Britain’s Popular Productions brings the show to the First Group Theatre this week, where three guys perform abridged versions of Shakespeare’s oeuvre in just 97 minutes. We caught up with two of them in between rehearsals to find out more.

Nick Barclay

You perform 37 plays in 97 minutes: that’s crazy.
The whole idea of doing 37 plays in 97 minutes is insane, but it’s inspired. The original production that the Reduced Shakespeare Company devised is so imaginative. I mean, Titus Andronicus is done as a cooking programme. A light-hearted, Tarantino-esque cooking programme.

Sounds interesting…
For most people, Shakespeare can be a bit dry and dusty and boring, but that’s just because of the way it’s often presented in classrooms. Shakespeare is still being produced in cinema and the theatre because the stories still resonate, don’t they? They’re truisms. And this is one of the most joyful productions I’ve ever been involved with.

Will the audience actually learn something about Shakespeare, or is it just for a laugh?
Oh, absolutely. It’s done with laughs, but you get some of his most beautiful pieces of verse that are played absolutely straight. The ‘What piece of work is man?’ speech from Hamlet is performed in its entirety, not jokingly at all. Among the laughs you appreciate the beauty of the language.

What’s your favourite part?
I think it’s the Othello rap – it’s just so out there. And when we do Hamlet backwards in 30 seconds. Everybody in the audience gets to be involved in the production of Hamlet. But I don’t want to give too much away…

What have you learned about Shakespeare from this?
That he is, without question, the greatest playwright in the English language. Since I was at drama school I’ve mostly done thrillers because I’m tall and I look like a murderer, so it’s a real pleasure to do this.