A salt and pepper pot for the king and queen. A vase for the prince. A matchbox for the servant. A kitchen table for a stage.
Originally conceived in 2015, in Complete Works six performers create condensed versions of all of the Shakespeare plays, comically and intimately retelling them, using a collection of everyday objects as stand-ins for the characters on the a stage made from a table top.
Complete Works has been performed in theater spaces across the world as well as being webcast to thousands of international viewers, however, while a global pandemic has shut down stages everywhere, the piece finds an intimate new life by ‘coming home’. Rather than a table set against the red drapes of a theater, the objects find their starting positions on Terry’s kitchen table or Jerry’s desk as if they’d just been taken down from the surrounding shelves and cupboards of each performers’ home.
All performances will take place at 12pm unless otherwise noted
*After each Sunday performance, the performers will host a Q&A live on Zoom. To register for a post-show Q&A please email feaftertalks@gmail.com with the date of the post-show discussion you are interested in.
Week 1
Thu, Sep 17: Macbeth
Fri, Sep 18: Pericles
Sat, Sep 19: The Merchant of Venice
Sun, Sep 20: A Midsummer Night’s Dream - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 2
Thu, Sep 24: Romeo and Juliet
Fri, Sep 25: King John
Sat, Sep 26: Titus Andronicus
Sun, Sep 27: Much Ado About Nothing - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 3
Thu, Oct 1: Hamlet
Fri, Oct 2: Love’s Labour’s Lost
Sat, Oct 3: The Winter’s Tale
Sun, Oct 4: All’s Well That Ends Well - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 4
Thu, Oct 8: Richard II
Fri, Oct 9: Henry IV, Part 1
Sat, Oct 10: Henry IV Part 2
Sun, Oct 11: Henry V - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 5
Thu, Oct 15: Henry VI, Part 1
Fri, Oct 16: Henry VI, Part 2
Sat, Oct 17: Henry VI, Part 3
Sun, Oct 18: Richard III - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 6
Thu, Oct 22: Measure for Measure
Fri, Oct 23: Coriolanus
Sat, Oct 24: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Sun, Oct 25 at 1pm : King Lear - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 7
Thu, Oct 29 at 1pm: Twelfth Night
Fri, Oct 30 at 1pm: Cymbeline
Sat, Oct 31 at 1pm: Julius Caesar
Sun, Nov 1: Antony and Cleopatra - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 8
Thu, Nov 5: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Fri, Nov 6: Troilus and Cressida
Sat, Nov 7: As You Like It
Sun, Nov 8: Othello - followed by a post-show discussion*
Week 9
Thu, Nov 12: Taming of the Shrew
Fri, Nov 13: The Comedy of Errors
Sat, Nov 14: Timon of Athens
Sun, Nov 15: The Tempest - followed by a post-show discussion*
Conceived and devised by Forced Entertainment
Performers — Robin Arthur, Jerry Killick, Richard Lowdon, Claire Marshall, Cathy Naden and Terry O’Connor
Director — Tim Etchells
Text — Robin Arthur, Tim Etchells, Jerry Killick, Richard Lowdon, Claire Marshall, Cathy Naden and Terry O’Connor
Digital Production Management — Jim Harrison
Financially supported by the following partners: Kanuti Gildi SAAL; KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen; Künstlerhaus Mousonturm; The Mondavi Center, UC Davis; PACT Zollverein; Romaeuropa Festival; Shakespeare Festival Neuss; Stanford Live at Stanford University; UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance and UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures. Also presented as part of Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s 2020 Time-Based Art Festival.
