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Shakespearean comedy takes stage

By Lindsay Slater
The Times-Journal

Published July 3, 2009

Northeast Alabama Community College is setting the stage for the second production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).”

NACC Theatre Director Mark Webb said the play was brought back by popular demand.

“It’s hysterically funny,” Webb said. “People love to laugh and with this production. They laugh all night long.”

The play features three men, Matthew Taheri, Jake Harris and Jared Cushen, who use their real names throughout the production.

The three men take the works of Shakespeare and present them in about two hours.

“It’s a bit unique in that it’s a way to enjoy Shakespeare that’s different than the way people usually associate Shakespeare and his work,” Webb said.

How does someone present all of Shakespeare’s work in just about two hours?

“There is a lot of different ways that they do it,” Webb said. “The [works] are a condensed version. The comedies are compressed into one comedy that’s done in a few minutes.”

Webb said the style and format seen in the comedies have a lot of similarities from one comedy to the next, making it easy to combine the 16 comedic plays from Shakespeare.

Taheri, Harris and Cushen have interaction with the audience and add their own style with improvisation, which makes the show a bit different each night.

“We have people that will come to every show to see what’s going to be different about the show,” Webb said.

Taheri, Harris and Cushen were the three men who took on the roles in the first presentation of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” and had more time to develop and detail their characters and the content this time around.

“The first time it was really interesting because it was a compressed rehearsal period, and they had so much to learn to be able to do those characters,” Webb said. “They were hard pressed to learn all of the material.”

Webb said this time, the trio remembers most of the material and he has had more time to work with them on developing and finessing the characters.

“It’s much more detailed and will be a much more developed delivery of virtually everything in the play,” Webb said.

Webb said some modernizations have also been added to the production.

“Last time, we incorporated “The Wizard of Oz” and this time we have added a Star Wars touch in some areas,” Webb said.

Tickets are $5, are on sale now and can be bought by calling NACC at 638-4418 ext. 218 or going online to nacc.edu.

The show runs July 10-12 and 17-19. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m.

Productions for the 2009-10 theatre season will be announced on opening night.

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