By Peter Maddern
Fresh from a triumphant rendition of A Comedy of Errors, the State Theatre has decided to double up on Shakespearian farce with the Complete Works (Abridged), a silliness that attempts to cover the great Bard’s canon – plays, sonnets and poems – in two hours and utilising just three male actors.
Adam Cook is the original producer of this delight as well as the present director and The Complete Works pretty much presents itself as an offering more usually witnessed at the Fringe – a tent production playing on Adelaide leading theatrical stage. It makes you hanker for March’s twilight.
The staging is a pretty much just a big circus caravan opened up to the audience with ‘William Shakespeare’ lit up above it like they do at the entrance way to a big top. Our players are dressed in the most over the top period costume imaginable and the first half rushes through all but Hamlet in a flurry of activity, jokes, delightful timing and silly props.
Our cast work over time with Tim Overton somewhat dominating proceedings in the first half and Damian Callinan in the second, leaving Nic English to keep it all together between them. Callinan’s improv work was great fun especially after the interval and English’s Hamlet, in the all black, a great success.
The Complete Works is a laugh out loud romps and it was invigorating to hear members of the two school groups in attendance last night squealing in glee at the antics as well as the clever use of the original material. Quite whether traditional State Theatre season ticket holders were as enamoured was harder to tell, though the reception at its conclusion was as warm as one hears.
If you are looking for a good bellyache or just the play to break in a young mind to the joys of theatre, few things offer a better time than this Complete Works.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
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