TOWNGATE THEATRE PRESENTS “THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)”
Hilarious Comedy Opens March 6

WHEELING, W.Va. (February 24, 2009)- - Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre continues its 2008-09 season with the hilarious comedy “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” It will be staged for just two weekends, March 6-8 and March 12-14.

“This is not the Shakespeare you studied in school. It’s more like Cliff Notes meets Monty Python,” Oglebay Institute Performing Arts Director Kate Crosbie said.

Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” is London’s longest running comedy and is described as an “irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s plays.” It follows three men trying to cram all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays into one theatrical performance. It is a high-speed condensation of all that is Shakespeare.

It has been praised by the Los Angles Times as “wildly funny” and by the Montreal Gazette as “the funniest show you are likely to see in your entire lifetime.”

Oglebay Institute’s production features the considerable talents of Towngate veterans Mario Muscar, Ryan Sears and Tim Thompson and is directed by Wheeling Jesuit’s Dave Henderson. These madcap actors will weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and histories in a 90-minute rollercoaster ride that will leave audiences breathless from laughter.

The production includes a heavy dose of impov and audience participation along with plenty of blunders, puns and outrageous female impersonations. The three overworked actors portray heroes, villains, kings, servants and damsels in distress, sometimes all at the same time. Among the highlights are a rap version of Othello, the cannibalistic Titus Andronicus presented as a cooking show and Shakespeare’s histories distilled into a football game with an announcer calling a penalty on the fictional King Lear.

“This parody of plays is deceptively intelligent. With a splendid mix of sly humor and broad slapstick, it will amuse die-hard Bard fanatics, anyone who has ever struggled through Shakespeare in high school or college and even those experiencing Shakespeare for the first time,” Crosbie said.

Sponsored by Whiteside Cadillac Buick Pontiac Chevrolet GMC Trucks, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” is part of Towngate Theatre’s 39th season of community theater.
Towngate’s curtain is at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday March 6 and 7 and 2 p.m. March 8. Curtain is at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 12-14.

Call the Stifel Fine Arts Center at 304.242.7700 to reserve seats. For those buying seats at the door, Towngate’s box office opens one hour before all shows and can be reached at 304.233.4257.

Refreshments are available at Towngate Theatre and parking is curbside or in the nearby Center Wheeling Parking Garage. Located at 2118 Market St., Wheeling, Towngate is easy to find and located just across the street from St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in the historic Centre Market district of Wheeling.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the members of the Institute as well as with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts.