Very Fast, Very Funny

   As Tracy Trimm tells his fellow actors,  “We don’t have to do it justice. We just have to do it.â€�

And so the caste of five at the Ghent Playhouse plunges into “Hamlet,â€� the last of the Bard’s 37 plays, all  performed in, oh, 90 entertaining minutes. They have already done “The Tempest,â€� with Caliban as a right-wing Republican; “Othello,â€�as a Moor towing a rubber boat; “Midsummer Night’s Dreamâ€� as an animalistic orgy. You get the idea. This is no-holds-barred burlesque complete with kazoos, a rubber dummy, and plenty of blood for “Titus Andronicus,â€� a cooking show. During intermission, a postcard bearing all the sonnets is circulated so the audience does not miss any of the Bard’s output.    

   Then “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged )â€� runs through the comedies quickly. Very quickly. One, “they are all the same story,â€� and, two, “the tragedies are funnier,â€� with “Hamletâ€� winding up the evening with a five-minute version, followed by a one-minute version hitting the highlights, and, finally,  a one-minute version hitting the highlights read backwards. It’s irreverent, entertaining and fast. Very fast. — Marsden Epworth

“TCWWS, abridged,� with Roseann Cane, Matt MacArevey, Prudence J.M. Teriault, Tracy Trimm and Jan Van Iderstyne runs at the Ghent Playhouse through Jan. 31. Tickets: 518-392-6264.

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