Arts & Culture
Three actors, 37 plays
See 37 Shakespeare plays this weekend
The Pointer
Nmeye177@uwsp.edu
When Arne Parrot got the okay to direct his first play as a member of the Players student theater organization he thought people would flock to the opportunity. The play that had been agreed upon by the player’s board and himself is popular in theater circles. Arne himself has seen it too many times to count. But when the auditions for the production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged” took place, only six people showed up to fill the three roles. Arne still feels it couldn’t have worked out better.
“I feel like if 200 people had auditioned I still would have cast these three people because each one of them brings a different energy of what I want to the show,” said Parrot.
The play opens this Friday in the Noel Fine Arts Center, Room 221. Arne and his cast of three, Hannah Kampschoer, Maggie Raymond and Mikey Kliss have been preparing for about a month and a half to take on the challenge of covering 37 Shakespeare plays in an hour and a half.
“Its three actors doing 37 plays in an hour and a half if you’re not attracted to that well….,” said Parrot.
The show, written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, is a parody of the plays written by William Shakespeare with all of the plays being performed for varying lengths of time. The play sets itself aside from traditional theater in many ways, the most obvious being the cast members are essentially playing themselves rather than one character.
“I’m excited because it will be very different and it helps, the show has a very improv nature,” said cast member Hannah Kampschoer. “Playing ourselves, which is a new character that we usually don’t play, there’s a lot more honesty with it, so its not really acting as much as it is being a lot of time.”
“Its different, instead of what I’m used to,” said cast member Mike Kliss. “You look at a script and you go, ‘okay this character is saying this because that’s the type of person they are,’ but to take those words and make them yours and you’re trying to say those words just naturally.”
The play has a very improvisational nature. The script allows for whoever is putting on the play at the time to take it and make it their own. The script encourages directors to change the many pop culture references so they are up to date or talk about things significant to the area its being produced.
“I get to add references to the current administration, and I poke a bit of fun at the faculty and other productions that Point has done and just in general; all in good humor, not anything malicious,” said Parrot.
Parrot is also shaking things up in other ways. The play calls for three men to play the parts; Parrot has cast two girls.
“It calls for three white men specifically; three white men wrote it, but I’ve seen productions with three black women, and its hilarious and it works fine, they just have to change some of the jokes, you just have to keep the attitude that the script isn’t the final word,” said Parrot.
Kampschoer couldn’t be happier to take over at least one of the male roles.
“I will say it was an absolute orgasm when I found out I get to play Hamlet, which is something I never even bothered to fantasize about,” said Kampschoer.
The play by its nature also adds another non-traditional character to the show, the audience. The improvisational nature of the show allows for audience participation on many levels and the so-called fourth wall comes tumbling down. The audience can expect to become a part of what Arne calls a great sense of ensembles between the actors.
“For improv you really need respect and listening, and the ability to have another person in the scene and pay just as much attention to them and to yourself. They’ve really come together really well,” said Parrott.
The cast had only a few words for their potential fourth cast member.
“Don’t bring anything breakable to the play, that’s the big one,” said Kliss.
The show opens on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and goes throughout the weekend with performances on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The cost is $4.
