Thu 12/4-Sun 12/28
There’s this thing in theater to send up theater itself by compressing a whole bunch of familiar plays and scenes into one hectic-paced show, largely for comedic effect. The best known is The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)which stuffs all 37 of his plays into a work of a little over an hour and a half. It was written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, which basically invented the genre and has produced other similar works, reducing the Bible, Hollywood and all of Western Civilization.
Michael Carleton, James Fitzgerald and John K. Alvarez followed in their footsteps when they produced Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) in 2007, convinced theatergoers were tired of A Christmas Carol (likely correct.) Now the Akron-based Ohio Shakespeare Festival has taken the challenge and is producing the work for their holiday show at their winter home at Greystone Hall in downtown Akron. Geoff Knox directs the production which features Tess Burgler, Natalie Steen and Ryan Zarecki as the actors.
It previews on Thursday December 4 and runs through Sunday December 28.
Get tickets here.
ohioshakespearefestival.com/xmas