Review: The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) at Theatre by the Lake

“…a riotous celebration…joyfully poking fun at our most celebrated playwright…”

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

By Ken Powell

I feel I should begin with a trigger warning…

If the immortal bard is on a par with God for you and you consider every word of his 37(ish) plays to be pure perfection, and you won’t hear a bad word said about the greatest playwright that England has ever produced and probably the greatest in the world… then this production is not for you. It will almost certainly offend, because the three comic actors on the stage take over an hour ripping the urine out of ole Shakey and they do so with courageous audacity (and very possibly with audacious courage too, I’m not sure).

If though, like me, you love William Shakespeare but don’t take him too seriously and can appreciate the absurdity of some of his plots, plus you simply really enjoy having a damned good belly laugh every once in a while… then The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) is definitely for you.

Really. Just get a ticket already somewhere on their tour where you can find tickets still left.

What’s more, despite the fact that this is pure physical comedy that is utterly farcical at times, you might actually learn a thing or two about Shakespeare, his characters and why his plays continue to inspire and attract new audiences. Indeed, while this show was perfect for adults, I would highly recommend taking older children and certainly teenagers who are having to endure to study Shakespeare’s plays at school. This isn’t a play for school children per se, but there’s certainly a leaning in the writing that appreciates many of us have struggled to understand and enjoy these great works in our youth.

I won’t explain too much what goes on on stage, other than to say the three actors do what it says on the tin – you get all the plays and sonnets in one show… sort of. In fact, they cover almost all the plays in the first half, leaving the second half for one play in particular. Both acts are relatively short – which, considering the material being covered, you might think even more impossible – but that makes it good for younger audiences to enjoy without dragging on and getting boring (something that, let’s face it, we know can happen with Shakespeare).

Not being boring is, in essence, the point of the production. There’s no tedious exposition and analysis of his writings. Instead, you get a whirlwind of activity and mayhem that is almost as exhausting to watch as it must be to perform. I felt like I needed a good lie down after watching the actors (and audience members) running around the stage. It was utterly bonkers.

And yet, somehow, all three actors are able slip in learning and appreciation for the bard through the back door, as it were. They quote huge chunks of monologues from numerous plays, sometimes actually properly seriously, and it is clear these three young actors know and enjoy Shakespeare for real. This isn’t taking the mick for the purpose of mocking Shakespeare; this is about cutting through the pretend crap surrounding him and delighting in all that his plays have to offer, including the fact that many of them are just a bit daft. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that; in fact, quite the opposite.

The three actors all have youth and energy on their side, which makes them very engaging for all, but especially younger members of the audience. Efé Agwele alternates between being the one in control and pretending to be an expert on Shakespeare. Instantly likeable, she captivates attention even when larking around on stage. Woogie Jung is the gentle peacemaker presenter who we empathise with when things go wrong. Tom Pavey does a marvellous job of looking like a complete idiot who knows nothing. You would never guess that, by day, he’s studying for a DPhil in Biology at Oxford, nor would you know this is his professional debut. Pavey has the ability to make you love him even when he’s insulting audience members, which means when you do get a moment of seriousness, he’s very effective because it takes you off-guard.

This was just a riotous celebration of Shakespeare, joyfully poking fun at our most celebrated playwright and reminding us that it is okay to simply be entertained by this stuff instead of being bored to death by analysis. There were some in the audience who tutted at such insolence but they were in the minority and, honestly, if they hadn’t realised what kind of show they were coming to from the title, then one has to question their ability to analyse anything. The rest of us roared with laughter at the gags, nodded vigorously in agreement with the statements and giggled with delight at hundreds of Shakespearean quotes that we probably will never see the same way again.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) plays at Theatre by the Lake until Thursday 18 June. Tickets are available here.

Ken Powell is chief editor for Northern Arts Review and is also a bestselling author and writer for various publications around the world. A former school teacher, he continues to write educational books along with fiction and travelogues. You can find all his books and various websites here including his popular TEDx talk about the Global Village. He lives with his family in a wonderfully isolated village in West Cumbria where he enjoys drinking tea, chatting with the birds and winding up his dog. You can support his work (or just buy him a coffee) here.