"Complete Works" is basically a template for three performers to mess around with some of the best-known works in the English language, throwing everything they have into delighting the audience. It's very much a go-for-broke effort, throwing everything into a big blender with jokes coming at such speed that if one fails, there's another three dozen to follow that the sheer weight of it overwhelms you into delight. Rep's production brings this together under the guidance of Ylaria Rogers, who gives her cast a whole lotta rope while keeping the evening from falling into complete chaos, instead just having the semblance of chaos.
The three performers giving it their all are, in alphabetical order, Callum Docherty (playing the ADHD one, distractible, goofy, constantly after the next diversion), Alex McPherson (the closest the show has to a straight-guy, but still with a great affection for a diversion into talking about anything other than the ostensible topic), and Ryan Street (who does a lot of the transition-narration in the style of a harassed Kermit-The-Frog type, if Kermit also loved taking on the women's roles by throwing a shawl on and miming vomiting on the audience). The show is a test of stamina as much as anything, keeping the energy level at 11 for just under 2 hours, and these three certainly have it to burn.
Kayla Circeran's set is a great playground for the actors, giving them plenty of spots to play in while simultaneously looking like a backstage junkyard. Stephan Still's lighting picks out areas and gives appropriate moodyness where required for all the mini-playlets.
In short, this is a romp, whether for Shakespeare scholars who can laugh at the tiniest joke, or for people who just want to laugh at people sticking swords under each other's arms and having a prolonged death scene. There's no intellectual justification for it beyond that it's fun. But it is definitely fun.
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