Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 14 UCW FEBRUARY 8 - 14, 2023 Go Online 910-484-6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com Flip our pages for news, views, art and entertainment! Call and ask one of our marketing representatives to help you grow your business. roughout his illustrious, history- making career, William Shakespeare is credited with having written around 37 plays. Beginning Feb. 17, the Gil- bert eater in downtown Fayetteville will attempt to perform them all. With only three actors and 97 min- utes, the Gilbert will take the audience on a hilarious speed-run through the Bard's catalog with their performance of "e Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)." e produc- tion will run from Feb. 17 through March 5. According to actor Chris Walker, the play is a "distillation of the works of Shakespeare jammed together to create a farce — a comedy of immense ridiculousness." Walker, along with Dan Adams and Linda Flynn, round out the cast of three who will race through costume changes, character transitions and hilarious interpretations of the good, the bad and the obscure in Shake- speare's canon. "It's a lot of fun," Flynn confided. "But it's a lot of work. e challenge is there are so many words and charac- ters and just so many costumes — it goes pretty fast." e play is London's longest- running comedy, written by Daniel Singer, Adam Long and Jess Winfield in the early 1980s. Its over-the-top energy, break-neck speed, and reli- ance on self-parody make it an ideal play for those who don't know much about Shakespeare or feel alienated from his work due to the difficulty of the language. "You don't need to know anything about Shakespeare to enjoy this play — though who doesn't know a little something about Shakespeare?" Walker mused. "It's so universal; it's something we all learn in one way or another." e play's director, Lawrence Carlisle III, has been trying to bring the play to the Gilbert stage since the spring of 2020. e play was sched- uled to debut in March of that year — then the world shut down due to the pandemic. "When I took over as artistic direc- tor in 2020, this was the second show of my tenure," he explained. "We post- poned it a few times but eventually had to cancel the entire season. I really enjoyed directing the show and knew I wanted to do it again someday." Now, three years later, Carlisle is excited to share his vision. ose attending should prepare themselves for some sword-fighting (both good and bad), jokes (both good and bad), and more than a little audience participation. "at's part of the comedy," said Walker. "It's supposed to be over the top." e play is rated PG-13 and best suited for audiences of middle-school age and up — perfect for a post-Val- entine's Day night date, secondary- school field trip, or a group of friends looking for something fun to do on a Friday night. "e Complete Works of Shake- speare (Abridged)" isn't intended for hard-boiled literary purists or those looking to better understand Shakespeare's work. Its purpose is a bit more straightforward, and its goal is very simple: it's intended to make people laugh. "I picked it because it's funny, and I prefer comedy most of the time," Carlisle said simply. "You shouldn't take any of it too seriously." Tickets range from $13.25 to $21.25. For tickets and showtimes, visit the theater website at https://www.gil- berttheater.com/. e Gilbert eater is located at 116 Green St. 'Abridged' Shakespeare on stage at Gilbert Theater by ASHLEY SHIRLEY EVENT Linda Flynn, Dan Adams and Chris Walker rehearse. (Photos courtesy Gilbert eater) ASHLEY SHIRLEY, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200