By Barbara Arnstein
To quote Act Five, Scene One, of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, this play is “merry and tragical, tedious and brief”. In “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (revised) (again)”, in just over ninety minutes, three actors (male) perform parts (male and female) from Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies, with slapstick, pratfalls, audience participation and, at one point, sock puppets. The fast-paced (“condensed”) play will take place at St. Bonaventure University’s appropriately named Regina A. Quick Center (because it goes quickly!) for the Arts in Allegany, NY, this Friday and Saturday, April 17 & 18 at 7:30pm. Briefly: it’s nervy and zany, and the characters rant and swagger. (By the way, Shakespeare introduced the words “nervy”, “zany”, “rant” and “swagger”, plus many more.)
Kevin Leary, the play’s director, stated, “When we started this production, I told the entire creative team and cast that our primary goal for this show was to make people laugh. The story is an excuse to have some fun onstage and the more fun that we have, the more fun our audiences can have. This guiding principle has brought such joy to the rehearsal process; actors bringing in more comic business, designers making outrageous choices, and I’m lucky enough to be in the center of it all laughing. So many times when we approach Shakespeare, we find gatekeepers protecting its perceived sanctity. This show upends that paradigm, allowing us to laugh out loud at the major flaws of Shakespeare’s canon in addition to major flaws in theatre, our society, and our very selves.”
One of its cast members, Brendan Didio, a member of Kenan Center’s Repertory Company numbers among his many accomplishments playing a lead role (Lysander) in the 2022 Delaware Park production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. This summer, he will direct its production of “The Taming of the Shrew”. About his life, he said, “When I’m not performing, teaching, or working behind the scenes, I can be found eating pizza, playing with my dog, Ophelia, or spending time with my wonderful wife, Gretchen”. The other cast members are Jeremy Kreuzer, whose many acting accomplishments also include a role with Shakespeare at Delaware Park, and Kevin Craig, appearing under special agreement with Actors’ Equity Association. Craig’s accomplishments include winning two Artie awards for acting, which are Western New York awards originated by the online newspaper Artvoice.
Also at the Quick Center on April 18th: visiting Kenan Center artists will present four masterclasses about theater and performance techniques; the 11am class is for high school students; the one at noon, for Visual and Performing Arts students; the 1:30pm class, for the St. Bonaventure community; and the final one, at 2:30pm, for the external community.
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (revised) (again)” was written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, with new revisions by Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield. It is produced by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc. of New York City. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for senior adults, SBU staff and faculty, and $5 for students, and are available online at: ticketor.com/quickarts/tickets. The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located at 3261 West State Street at Cornelius Welch Drive in Allegany, NY. The production is a presentation of the Kenan Center for the Arts (in Lockport, NY). For more information, call (716) 375-2494. The Galleries in the Quick Center will be open one hour before the performances and during intermission. Fun Fact: On April 24th, the Quick Center will host a reception and a concert to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary “Grand Finale”.