DATE: Thursday, May 8, 1997                 TAG: 9705080057

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Theater Review 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   61 lines

SHAKES SHOW HAS DELIGHTFUL MOMENTS

THE REGIONAL premiere of ``The Compleat Wks of Willm Shkspr (Abridged),'' being performed as a benefit for Summer Shakes Inc. through May 17, may not be enough to make the Bard turn in his grave, but he may at the least give a little shudder.

The Minute Shakespeare Company originally presented this show at a Virginia Beach hotel, but lost their space over the weekend. They plan to bring back the show at another venue when they present their summer program.

The attempt is to ``perform,'' or at least touch on, all 36 plays, as well as a dismissal of the sonnets, of Bill Shakespeare. The approach is determinedly goofy. While it comes off a little like the Three Stooges on a bad day, it does have several delightful moments of outright attack upon academic pomposity.

This is a burlesque revue, which excuses many overstatements. Even at that, though, there are too many moments in which the four actors let us know that they think they're funny - a no-no, even in the world of burlesque.

Still, there are guffaws to be garnered out of seeing ``Hamlet'' performed in one minute, and even backward. ``Othello'' is done as a rap with lines like, ``She was good, she was clean, she was virginal, too; So why'd he have to go and make her face turn blue?'' There are pratfalls, puns and careful misreadings of names, as well as a number of delightfully bad female wigs.

The brainstorm was originally that of a group called the Reduced Shakespeare Company, based in San Francisco. The ``Compleat Wks'' had some success Off-Broadway and finally arrives here via a group that calls itself The Minute Shakespeare Company, an off-shoot of Summer Shakes, a group presenting outdoor Shakespeare productions at Virginia Beach.

Directed by Jim Luker, there is a good deal of energy here. Young Andrew Porter seems to best be attuned to the manic clown level that is desired. Ben Hebner is something of the master of ceremonies. Ann Russell Taylor makes hurried entrances and exits when ghosts or guests are needed. Ian Goodwin, though, has something of the bearing of a classical actor who is slumming. Maybe it's his impeccably accurate British accent.

The company dismisses all Shakespeare's comedies with a quickie version since, they claim, the plots were all the same anyway.

The historical plays are bunched together as a football game in which ``the quarterback passes to the hunchback.''

The second, and most rewarding, half is concerned with an extended examination of ``Hamlet'' who is described as the ``Cheese Danish.'' Ophelia is played by a member of the audience. The audience is divided into Id, Ego and Superego and encouraged to call out lines that drive Ophelia crazy. One actor has a nervous breakdown on stage.

The desired level of mania is never quite spontaneous but the material is delightfully irreverent. Having thrown down this gauntlet, though, Summer Shakes should be extremely careful not to let any of these comic possibilities seep into their upcoming production of ``Macbeth.'' May the Bard be with them. ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW

``The Compleat Wks of Willm Shkspr (Abridged),'' presented by the

Minute Shakespeare Company as a benefit for Summer Shakes. The show

was being held at a Virginia Beach hotel, but lost their space over

the weekend. They plan to bring back the show at another venue when

they present their outdoor summer program.

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