Established comedy trio to parody Shakespeare’s works

A trio of familiar comedy connoisseurs are looking to bring the laughs next month as Algoma Repertory Theatre gears up for its upcoming dinner theatre production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] (Revised) (Again).

Parodying 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in a comically shortened format, Timothy Murphy, Marc Beaudette, and AJ Brisson will take on 150 characters from the playwright’s most famous comedies, histories, and tragedies.

“If you love Shakespeare, you’ll love the show; if you hate Shakespeare, you’ll love the show,” Beaudette told SooToday. “It really is for everybody and it’s a laugh a minute for two hours.”

“All the histories are done like a sporting event, they lump all of his comedies together in five minutes, and they do one of his obscure plays as a cooking show,” he adds.

Directed by Sandra Forsell, the play was last performed by Sault Theatre Workshop in 2006 according to Beaudette, but he says some of the content has since changed to keep up with changing times.

“They keep revising it to keep it more topical, so a lot has been added to it since the 2006 show,” he explains. “Some of the jokes and references are updated to the current times as well.”

“No night is the same as the next either,” he adds. “There’s a lot of improvisation and audience participation in the show. There will be different things each night based on audience reaction and things that we as actors will find on different nights as well.”

The Algoma Repertory Theatre team is hoping the Shakespearean show can carry over the dinner theatre momentum from their successful production of Tony n' Tina's Wedding last April.

With hundreds of shows combined between the experienced cast of three, Beaudette says this production is unlike any other they've ever rehearsed for.

“It’s the funniest show I’ve ever rehearsed,” he says. “The process has been so much fun, and the three of us are working so well together. Each one of us brings a different skillset to the table, and we’ve gelled together to make this a really tight show.”

While evoking laughter is his top priority, Beaudette says he also hopes the play serves as an opportunity to help keep Shakespeare’s works alive.

“This is definitely a great springboard into Shakespeare or getting back into Shakespeare,” he says. “For people who have been interested in his shows in the past, their memories will be triggered by this.”

“There are moments where the language can get a little complex,” he adds. “Several times the actors kind of just look at the audience and go: ‘I don’t know what it means either.’ So, they do make light of it.”

Performances run from Nov. 8-11 at the Quattro Hotel and Conference Centre.

Dinner will be family style with roast chicken, Italian seasoned potatoes, penne, and homemade red sauce, along with mixed greens, green beans and fresh bread.

“It’s such a great venue; the ballroom is such a great space,” Beaudette says. “We’re going to be limiting tickets to 200 a night, but there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. It’s such a good setup for dinner theatre.”

Doors open at 6 p.m., dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available by calling Marc Beaudette at (705) 943-9519 or by clicking here.

For attendees who don’t want the dinner experience, minimal show-only seats will be available starting Nov. 1.