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Comedic Improv Play

Decent Essays

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is a comedic live performance improv show and a parody of the works of William Shakespeare, performed by The Reduced Shakespeare Company. The first performance of this comedic improv play was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (United Kingdom), in 1987. The play was written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield. The three writers wrote the parody as a three man act. The actors that played these roles were Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor.

In the play there is no such thing as the fourth wall, they speak to the audience many times and even have audience participation. Because it is an improv like play there are many parts that are not scripted. Such as the humorous vomit catastrophes each time there is a tragedy, and a part of the play where one of the actors refuses to act due to the vulgarity in the play name, along with many other scenes. The play starts out with an introduction from the actors. They perform many, if not all of William Shakespeare's play’s, starting with Romeo and Juliet and ending it with Macbeth. …show more content…

A woman from the audience was told by the actors to “play” one of William Shakespeare's characters, and the audience was told to speak together as a mental voice. The costumes in the play are quite simplistic throughout the show. They wear a white blouse with colored, loose capri like pants, with converse. Throughout the show they wear the same thing, but in certain acts/scenes they switch up or add something to their costume to give the audience more of a

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