Shakespeare shortened
April 11, 2019
Classic Shakespeare will be visiting the OHS stage once more, but, this time it will be slightly different. This year, the spring play will be the Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged. The show is composed of the 37 comedies, tragedies, histories and a few sonnets that Shakespeare created.
The show was originally created for three people to shift between each character, but Director Erik Eitrheim expanded a cast of three to a cast of nine. Eitrheim said, “I wanted something that was light, fun, funny and could involve a fair number of people. I came across a show that I had seen in London called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged and decided to give it a go.”
This show is different from lots of shows with a fair amount of interaction between cast and audience. Eitrheim gave some insight into this. He said, “There is a lot of audience participation in this show. It is not quite improvisation but there are some improvisational moments in the show where people will be interacting with the audience and whatever happens, happens.” Cast members will go into the audience throughout the show at certain points and pointing out or talking to audience members. Some people may even get taken up on stage into the limelight and made a part of the show. This creates a different show every night depending on who gets chosen, how they react and the interactions cast has with them.
For some in the cast, this show has been long awaited. Senior Kenna DaMitz is very happy to be a part of the show. She said, “This has been one of my favorite plays for years, I have always wanted to take part in it, but didn’t think I would ever get the chance because it is normally done with an all-male cast. I have loved working with this cast and being in the show. I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to play Hamlet either so that’s been great.” But as with any show, there are always struggles. With this show, the time crunch has been proving difficult. DaMitz shared a comical struggle. She said, “Also, we are all white and at one point we have to rap. So that has probably been the toughest part of the show.”
This show is for everyone. Whether you are knowledgeable about Shakespeare or not. Eitrheim said, “If you love Shakespeare, you’ll love this show. If you hate Shakespeare, you’ll love this show. If you don’t know anything about Shakespeare, you’ll love this show. It’s a hoot and people will have a great time watching it.” Performances take place in the OHS auditorium on April 11-13 at 7 p.m. as well as Sunday, April 14 at 1:30 p.m.
