Shakespeare - Abridged, Lowestoft

By FRANCES HARTThe Reduced Shakespeare Company's vastly entertaining romp through all Will's 37 plays in 97 minutes is a descendant of the Coarse Acting Play and Shakespeare's own Pyramus and Thisbe.

By FRANCES HART

The Reduced Shakespeare Company's vastly entertaining romp through all Will's 37 plays in 97 minutes is a descendant of the Coarse Acting Play and Shakespeare's own Pyramus and Thisbe.

Hardly pausing for breath at the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft, Tim Beckmann, Walter Lewis and Richard Lynson become kings, knights, witches and maidens in bewildering succession.

The purist might not approve of the world's greatest tragedy being performed backwards, or Titus Andronicus as a cooking programme.

However, these affectionate send-ups received an uproarious response from the audience, who needed little encouragement to yell their heads off as representatives of Ophelia's psyche.

These engaging Anglophile Americans with their quick-fire dialogue and costume changes, tumbling and gags, won the hearts of the Lowestoft audience.

Who said Shakespeare was old hat, or irrelevant? The only equally entertaining thing I've seen in ages was his own Comedy of Errors!