The plays of William Shakespeare are widely regarded as some of the greatest works of literature ever written. Many believe that they cannot be improved upon, must be savoured and appreciated in their fullness and complexity. The playwrights of this play do not belong to this group.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) condenses the works of the bard into a two hour long production that is both irreverent and frankly admiring. Each play is performed, discussed, explained, or at the very least, briefly mentioned by three actors, who play all the characters, sometimes several at once. Supported by an eccentric and truly mind boggling array of props, the play lets the audience feast on human pie, sock puppet ghosts and badly choreographed sword fighting. Almost period costumes give the play a distracting hint of credibility, and make it a truly hilarious visual spectacle.

The audience will be swept away with the sheer indignity that Shakespeare and his work is subjected to, and marvel at the new improved interpretations that they will witness. Ripe with the prospect of audience participation, this play takes interactive theatre to new heights. Audience members will find themselves on stage suddenly cast as a lead character, with a theatre full of people awaiting their performance. Others will be taken hostage by hysterical cast members and made to wave their hands in the air as an embodiment of a crazy woman's Id.

The play races through the tragedies and comedies, happily dismembering and often mutilating plot, dialogue and well beloved sayings. The great tragedy of Othello is performed as a 'rap-opera', the tragedy of Macbeth is performed in 'almost' perfect Scottish accents, and the play ends in a tremendous finale where the actors perform Hamlet backwards!

Originally performed in the mid 2007, the play opened to packed houses, and attendance increased steadily over the three days it was staged in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. After two shows where the auditorium was simply bursting at the seams, the Director ventured out into the audience and met many of the same people who had come for the first show. The success of the show led to repeat performances, in the Shri Ram School and in association with Just Imagine Productions, where the play traveled to Jalandhar and wowed audiences there.

Even though it’s been a year and a half since the play, the company still receives emails from people who had seen the play demanding it be staged again, and people who had missed it demanding it be staged again.