2018-10-08 | ENMU The Chase Staff Writer: Virginia Murray
Photo by Virginia Murray – A picture of the stage where previous performances have taken place.
Eastern New Mexico University’s Department of Theatre and Digital Filmmaking is presenting a rendition of every Shakespeare play in only 97 minutes.
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)”is a play written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, which was first presented in 1987. This performance parodies the plays of William Shakespeare with all of them being performed in a comedic tone while only featuring three actors.
ENMU’s Brandon Welsh, Manny Rivera and Caleb Ramsell take on the endeavor of performing every Shakespeare play to a live audience. Throughout the play, each of the actors portrayed different roles from each story ever told by Shakespeare. Many students, faculty and Portales residents came to see the performance at the ENMU University Theatre.
“It was a lot of fun,” said ENMU Sophomore, Zoey Schneider. “It was very simplistic, but it had a lot of involvement and energy. I’d say it’s worth it to come. You’ll learn something new about Shakespeare while having a good time.”
During the performance, the actors go to the back of the stage to change costumes and grab props, which made the performance fast-paced without any apparent scene changes. This reiterated the fact the fourth wall was nonexistent during the performance and allowed the audience to connect to the actors.
Throughout the show, many audience members were chosen to participate and join the actors alongside the stage. They were instructed to either act out a character or represent the many different thoughts of Ophelia during the performance of Hamlet.
ENMU’s Department of Theatre and Digital Filmmaking will hold one more showing of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)at 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Outdoor Central Pergola. For more information, visit www.enmu.edu/theatre or the ENMU Department of Theatre and Digital Filmmaking Facebook page.
