Shakespeare Comes to Cottey, Nov. 3-4

The Cottey College Department of Theatre will present Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield’s wild parody, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] on Friday and Saturday, November 3-4. The curtain will rise at 8 p.m. each evening in the Auditorium of the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts.

Shakespeare said “Brevity is the soul of wit,” so take a madcap whirlwind trip through all of his plays. (Yep, that’s right ALL of them.) What do you get when the tutor can’t make it to a study session for an exam over the works of William Shakespeare and the theatre students are left in charge of the review? An absolute circus as the performers provide new views on old works. Unprepared and caught off guard, the actors make the best of an awkward situation, giving modern interpretations of what they know and remember (sometimes incorrectly), Googling what they don’t know and making up the rest. It’s goofy, it’s wild, and a little insane. It’s always a good time.

After original stints at Renaissance fairs and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] took off, quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon and earning the title of London’s longest-running comedy. With the admonishment of the original playwrights to improvise, ad lib, and have fun, the Cottey College thespians produce the script with an all-female cast and production team. This production will be Cottey College’s 2017 entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Competition. Cottey’s 2016 entry to the KCACTF competition, The Moors, was one of only six regional productions chosen to perform at the American College Theater Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, last January.

The production is under the direction of Dr. Rusalyn Andrews. Tickets for the play are $5 for adults and $4 for those under age 18 or over age 62. Tickets will be available at the door or you may call the Cottey Ticket Office at 417-667-8181, ext. 2186.

The Center for the Arts is on the northeast corner of Austin and Tower streets in Nevada, Missouri.