The Connection

The Little Theater of Alexandria (LTA) is presenting the "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" from Feb. 27 to March 19. The show where the cast plays themselves is an irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard's 37 plays in 97 minutes. It was also London's longest-running comedy, having clocked nine years in London's West End.

Director Joanna Henry said she wanted to direct the play because she loves Shakespeare. "His plays were written for the people, and The Reduced Shakespeare Company's version brilliantly condenses all 37 of Shakespeare's plays and parodies them," she said. "This is a chance to have lots of fun with Shakespeare. His works are presented as a cooking show, a football game, a rap, and a fast-forward Hamlet that then gets replayed backwards. It's irreverent and fun."

She added: "This isn't your normal play with a plot line and character interactions and relationships. Three actors use their real names and play themselves acting out the characters in Shakespeare's plays. This is Shakespeare as you never expected to see him."

Long, serious topics are reduced to short, silly comedies, she said. "The comedies are presented in one convoluted reading justified by the idea that they all share the same plot devices. The histories are presented in a football game. The fourth wall doesn't exist. The actors will often speak directly to the audience and get them involved with what's happening on stage. My hope is that the audience will be engaged and vocal," she added.

She added: "One of the biggest challenges was rehearsing without actual people there to be a part of the audience. I actually asked friends to come by rehearsals so our three actors could practice interacting with an audience. Of course, part of the fun is that the cast will never really know what the audience will say or how they'll react from performance to performance."

She said she wants the audiences to be part of this show. "If you don't like Shakespeare, this play is for you. If you love Shakespeare, this play is for you. It's definitely Shakespeare for everyone," she said. "Hopefully, audiences will leave the theater smiling and thinking, 'I thought I didn't like Shakespeare, but this was fun.' I don't want to give too much away, but this play might change your view of the Bard."

Hans Dettmar is playing the role of himself, Hans Dettmar. "I play 20 characters, including myself, so I guess I can talk about the one I know the best (me!). I'm 6-foot-1, I'm a Leo ... just kidding ... um, well, I do play Juliet from "Romeo and Juliet," so I also like puppies and long walks on the beach but definitely not moonlight."

He said some of the challenges were running around the entire show from start to finish. "Some of the trickiest moments come at the very end of the show so you can't relax until literally after the final bow," he said. "It makes for an intense experience, but hey, that's why we do this."

As far as audience takeaways, he said, "Well, I hope that they don't think our Shakespeare is, to quote the script: 'dry, boring (and) vomitless.'"

Shawn Byers is playing the role of himself, Shawn Byers. "Essentially, in this show, I play myself," he said. "In the original production, the three playwrights were also the actors in the show. Our director wanted to stay true to this production, so each of us are playing ourselves onstage."

He added: "In that light, I do play the 'Shakespeare expert,' which is quite a hard thing to live up to. While I did take Shakespearean courses, I would hardly characterize myself as an expert. Although, as I think audiences may pick up on, perhaps my character isn't as savvy as he likes to think."

He said the main challenge has been the weather. "We had to miss some rehearsals due to the snow storm that we had a few weeks back," he said. "Another challenge was simulating all of the audience interaction moments in a rehearsal setting. Joanna (the director), however, anticipating this challenge, arranged to have people to sit in on our rehearsals. It's been a wonderfully fun process having people to interact and play off of in this manner so early in the rehearsal process, and was a brilliant idea from our fearless leader."

Dave Wright is playing the role of himself, Dave Wright. "So my character is basically me, so I guess I can tell you a bit about David Wright, according to Wikipedia. Wright was born in Norfolk, Va., the oldest of four sons of Rhon, a police officer in the Norfolk Police Department, and Elsa Wright."

He added: "Wright was the 2001 Gatorade Virginia High School Player of the Year. Wright also earned All-State honors in 1999, 2000 and 2001, and was named Virginia All-State Player of the Year in 2001."

He said a big challenge was trying to make sure he captures the humor of the show while still remaining faithful to the Shakespearean text. "Also, being a man of larger carriage, just making it through the show is a win for me," he said.

The Little Theater of Alexandria is presenting "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" from Feb. 27 to March 19. The show runs Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. Tickets are $19 and $22. The Little Theatre of Alexandria is located at 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Call the box office at 703-683-0496 or visit the website at www.thelittletheatre.com.