Germantown Community Theater. Showings March 3rd – 19th, Thursday – Saturday at 8 pm. Sunday performances are at 2:30 PM only. It’s $14 - $16 for a ticket. Get off your ass and go see this performance. If you can’t make it to Tennessee to see these marvelous performers, look for it in your area.
Words fail me. William Shakespeare, aka The Bard, invented something like 1500 words during his career as a playwright. This compilation of his works is so fantastic I find writing a simple description to be bloody impossible – at least in the limited area a review allows.
In theater as with TV, writing, and art, there is an unwritten rule not to break the fourth wall. This is the wall that separates the performance or piece from the audience in order that the audience may experience the theater without actually being a part of the action. And Shakespeare’s plays are usually presented in such a fashion.
Which is why this play (or set of plays) is so mind-blowing and hilarious. The fourth wall no longer exists. The audience is as much a member of the production as the four talented players on the stage. And the players and playwrights know the Bard, very, very, well. They are such good friends with him they call him by his nickname, Sweet.
To present this piece, I would favor you with some highlights. I even got out my pen and my little notepad and in the half-light of the stage took notes. But such an act was in vain. The whole damn play was the highlight. The Othello Rap, Gladiator Chef, HAMLET IN REVERSE. Oh, and prolific use of the finger. I felt like I was riding a roller coaster that only sped up with every turn and I couldn’t fasten my belt.
The players of ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD were never so entertaining. Much like those traveling actors living out of a wagon, the stage lies empty but for a cart of props, costumes, and . . . . what’s this? Techno music? The performance depends on the talents of the players and they do not disappoint. Far from it.
Once I read the program (yes, even the program is hilarious) I knew I was in for a treat. The opening introduction of the plays of the Bard as well as a brief, if slightly skewed, biography of Willy himself to the final throes of laughter at the end (who knew tragedy could be so comical?), one laugh succeeded another and another. Each one belched out longer and harder than the first. And I paid for it in the end. My cheeks, sides, and mouth hurt so hard from all the belly laughs I had a hard time falling asleep.
So thank you Marques W. Brown, Steven Gary, Tony Isbell, Henry A. MacDaniel, and Tobias Q. Farthington (excellent stunt work btw) the gut splitting performances. Also thanks to Jess Borgeson, Adam Long, and Daniel Singer. I bow humbly to playwrights who know and love The Bard so well to write such a wonderful play about his works. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Bayer, would love it.