Complete Shakespeare (Abridged) opens tonight at Lincoln College
Comic Adaptation of Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits

[September 26, 2017] 

LINCOLN

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” opens Tuesday, Sept. 26, at Lincoln College’s Hostick Theatre in the Johnston Center on the Lincoln College campus.

A comic adaptation of multiple Shakespeare works attempts to give theatre goers a whirlwind tour of Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies, sonnets and everything else, all in a single performance.

The Lincoln College presentation features special guest director Natalie Reiko and four cast members – Sky Ford, Madison Grider, Jessica Sutton and Bradyn Wambach. It opens Wednesday night, with performances nightly through Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m., with a special afternoon performance at 2:30 p.m., Oct. 1. For more information, please contact the Johnston Center ticket office at 217-735-7280.

The production relies heavily on parody and improvisation with no two performances ever the same. Although the play was first performed in 1987, the improvisational nature of the show allows for constant updating and the Lincoln College production includes numerous contemporary references to popular music and culture.

The play was first performed in 1987 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s largest arts festival held annually in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was written and performed by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield. It has become one of the world’s most popular shows, and is notable for holding the world record for the shortest-ever performance of Hamlet (43 seconds).

Director Reiko received her undergraduate degree from Bradley University in Theatre Arts. She went on to receive her Masters's degree in British Theatre from Birmingham School of Acting in Birmingham, England. She has also studied at Dell'Arte International School of Acting and Antaeus in Los Angeles.

Bradyn Wambach

Jessica Sutton

Madison Grider

Sky Ford

She is a cofounder of The Great Works Begins Theatre Troupe in Peoria, Illinois which produces Shakespeare in the park at Camp Wokanda every year, as well as, other productions around the Peoria area. She resides in Los Angeles, where she has been a guest artist in various productions at A Noise Within in Pasadena.

[Mark Gordon
Public Relations and Media Manager
Lincoln College]