This is not your English professor’s Shakespeare.

Attendees of Theatre of Dare’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) should expect an evening of bawdy, bardic belly laughs.

“It’s a fast-talking, pratfalling, Monty Python-ish version of the Bard’s plays,” said director Stephanie Harkness-Moxley. “We’ve been having such a great time during our rehearsal period, and we can’t wait to share this show with an audience.”

The show’s origins go back to the 1980s, when three improvisational comics developed a pass-the-hat Renaissance Fair routine into a full-length play, and debuted it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1987. From there, the play became London’s longest-running comedy and then into one of the most-produced plays in the world, translated into dozens of languages.

“It’s a fast-paced romp through all the Bard’s plays, as a group of actors attempt to speed through all of Shakespeare’s 37 comedies, tragedies and histories in two hours. Picture Othello as a rap song, Titus Andronicus as a cooking show, and all of Shakespeare’s histories combined into a football game (with the British Crown as the football),” noted a Theatre of Dare news release. “Oh, and there’s virtually no ‘fourth wall’, so audience participation is a major part of the fun.”

“As we did with ‘Christmas in July’, we wanted our August show to be 100% air-conditioned fun and laughter. You won’t need to know anything about William Shakespeare to enjoy an evening’s entertainment at this show,” said Theatre of Dare business director Kelsey Thompson.

“In fact, this show is NOT recommended for Shakespearean scholars or those with degrees in Elizabethan History.”

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” opened on August 7 and remaining performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. on August 21 and 28 at Theatre of Dare in Kitty Hawk, located at 3848 N. Croatan Highway. Tickets are $15, and available online at theatreofdareobx.com and at the door, subject to availability. This show is rated PG-13 due to mild language and adult innuendo, noted the release.

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