Shakespeare on fast forward

Courting Chaos: (From left) Oliver Driver, Keith Adams and Jeremy Elwood. Picture / John McDermott

In a dusty, bare rehearsal space in downtown Auckland, three performers throw themselves around the room.

Objects hurtle through the air, there's some fancy choreographed footwork, and the trio need a moment to catch their breath when they sit down for a cuppa.

This is no dance rehearsal, but a run-through of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), a breakneck romp through 37 of the bard's plays in a mere 97 minutes.

This comedy has been a long time coming to Auckland. The Complete Works was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1987, and the play has toured the world, as well as being a fixture on London's West End for nine years.

Wellington audiences got a look at it, thanks to their International Arts Festival, in the 90s.

Now it is Auckland's turn, and rather than a touring company, the gauntlet has been taken up by three local actors: Oliver Driver, Jeremy Elwood, and Keith Adams.

"This is rehearsed chaos," says Driver.

"The pace is fast, and this is hard work. We are dashing on and off stage, and there is no way I can have a quick cup of tea while Jeremy is doing his bit, or anything like that."

Together they juggle up to a dozen characters each. The names read like a roll-call of literature's greatest.

"If you know nothing about Shakespeare, you will enjoy this show," says Elwood.

"People who think they know nothing about him often get a surprise because they don't realise how much Shakespeare has entered popular culture.

"They will recognise all the famous lines, the characters, the plots. People know a lot more Shakespeare than they think they do."

"And if you know a lot, you will enjoy this, too," adds Driver. "If you are parodying something, you have to understand it and come from a place of knowledge. The joy of this play is that there is one of us on stage for everyone out there: someone who knows a lot about Shakespeare (that's me), someone who knows a little, and someone who knows nothing - that's Keith."

Adams not only has the distinction of being the fall guy of the piece, but all the girls, too.

Among other characters, he plays Juliet, Lavinia, Cleopatra, Gertrude, and Ophelia. He will grudgingly admit Elwood does play Juliet's nurse, but points out it all becomes a bit Carry On Shakespeare with Elwood in drag.

The trio figure there could be some po-faced purists out there who might pooh-pooh taking the borax out of the Bard, but they are convinced Shakespeare himself would enjoyed the production, populist that he was.

"This doesn't take the piss out of Shakespeare," says director John Saunders. "It takes the piss out of people who expect Shakespeare to be performed in doublet and hose."

But while wigs fly and Hamlet and Laertes' swordfight takes a detour via The Princess Bride, the actors say the hardest thing about The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is keeping the laughs going in rehearsals.

"In comedy, you know you are getting it right when people are laughing. When it is quiet in a drama, the audience could be right into it, bored or asleep," says Driver.

"But when you are rehearsing a comedy, you do it over and over again in a room with the same people, and it starts to become the most unfunny show because you know it so well. You get desperate to know if an audience will find it funny."

They have little to worry about. The play has delighted audiences around the world for nearly 20 years. Driver, Elwood and Adams' antics in rehearsal have director Saunders in stitches.

He has helmed many a production of The Complete Works and seen most of it all before.

"These actors are bringing things to the show I've never seen before. The dynamic is good."

On stage

* What: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
* Where: Maidment Theatre
* When: May 11-June 5