Lauren Coppola '03

This term has been a rowdy and energetic one for the members of the Black Box clan, who have been busy rehearsing for the spring production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), a comedic romp that brings all of the Bard's thirty-seven plays into a modem context.

It is no easy task to cover such paramount literary works in an hour and a half, but the production makes some short cuts by turning Titus Andronicus into a cooking show, playing all of the king histories as a football game, and even performing a rap version of Othello.

The show puts a primary emphasis on the more famous of Shakespeare's plays, but for those audience members who are not Shakespeare experts, there is still plenty to laugh at. In fact, the audience has a major part in this production as much of the acting depends on improvisation and audience participation.

This play was written in 1987 by three actors who starred in the original cast themselves. These actors started the Reduced Shakespeare Company in 1981 as a thirty-minute act at outdoor Renaissance Fairs in California, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was their first full play creation. In the following years, the play has enjoyed increasing popularity, opening in New York and London.

Although the play was originally written for three ma1es Deerfield's production has two casts of four actors each, split evenly between the genders. Rehearsing with two casts was difficult and depended on a lot of individual work, but the groups received aid from two student assistant directors, Marty Tillson '04 and Emily Platt '04. The group is united, in spite of the split casts.

"This show is a lot about working together and figuring out different scenes together," said Ansley Rubinstein '06 who has immensely enjoyed rehearsals with the rest of the cast.

In fact, certain members of the cast feel they can now take on the varsity lacrosse team. This play has been quite a work out and most days the actors leave perspiring after romping about in their brightly colored Converse sneakers. Woodrow Travers '05 feels the athleticism of acting is underrated as he has succeeded in spraining his back during rehearsal. It should also be noted here that Travers plays only female characters and has enjoyed portraying various vamp characteristics.

The play opened Monday, May 19, and closes on May 24, with a total of six productions, three for each cast.