The Chadron State College production of the comedy The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) opens its 2-weekend run tonight in the Black Box Theater on the 2nd floor of Memorial Hall.
All 37 of Shakespeare’s plays are covered in one way or another in 97 minutes by 3 actors who talk directly with the audience and with each other in Shakespearean-era costumes.
      Chadron State alum Zachary Wellnitz has returned to direct the show and says the play was written in a manner that encourages the actors to have spontaneous conversations about the material with each other and the audience
Wellnitz says the 3 friends who wrote the show in 1984 encourage the performers through script notes to make references to pop culture as well as local people and places, and to update references or jokes in the script they feel may be a bit outdated.
Tickets for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) are free, but with seating in the Black Box Theater limited Wellnitz encourages reserving seats online
Curtain times are 7:00 for all the nightly performances – tonight, tomorrow, and next Thursday-Saturday – and 2:00 for the Sunday matinee both weekends.