Although the title of Cabrini theatre’s fall play this year has Shakespeare’s name, “Shakespeare on the Green” is no typical “Romeo and Juliet.” This contemporary comedic performance of four 20-minute renditions of Shakespearian plays (“Taming of the Shrew,” “King Lear,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “Comedy of Errors”) will have you crying—but only because you’ll be laughing so much. Even the actors have trouble rehearsing because of the comedy.
“You want to laugh because what they’re doing is really funny,” Samantha Murray, a sophomore history and English double major, said. Along with several other roles, Murray plays one of the daughters in “King Lear.”
“It’s really jumpy,” Danton Moyer, a junior political science major, said. “It’s frenetic.” As with the rest of the cast, you will see Moyer playing a variety of characters.
“If there was a funny Sparknotes of four Shakespeare plays, that’s what this is,” Moyer said.
Cabrini runs its shows in a very small, intimate setting, where the audience’s chairs are literally on the stage, face-to-face with the actors. There are no dressing rooms and no wigs. What you see is what you get.
“I’m amazed at what we’re able to do on such a small stage,” Colin Kilroy, a junior marketing major, said. This performance will be Kilroy’s first appearance in a Cabrini play. He is enjoying the chemistry that the cast has with one another.
“We do really great work in a very humble space,” Alyssa Reape, senior English theater and writing major, said. Reape recognizes the pressure to carry the story as actors on such a small stage with only one setting. Her biggest role this fall will be Katherine in “Taming of the Shrew.”
Dr. Thomas Stretton, who has been directing the Cabrini plays for nine years now, says the show has a tricky set. It consists of four doors, a set of windows and two big sliding doors. There are 17 performers and around 60 roles. Each actor has several parts to play.
“It’s very in your face,” Stretton said. He and the cast are very excited for this performance.
“It’s a wonderful group. I think they believe in it,” Stretton said. “If you thought ‘Charlie Brown’ was funny, you will think this is a scream.”
