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Small Cast Shakespeare

  • 1.  Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-21-2020 16:55
    Hi Everyone, 

    As I am looking ahead to next season, I would love some advice. What are your suggestions for a small cast Shakespeare play (no more than 7ish)? Our school is very small and all boys. 

    Thanks in advance!

    ------------------------------
    Christina Vincent
    Director of Theatre
    The Woodhall School
    Bethlehem, CT
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-22-2020 07:05

    With a little tricky staging you can have both sets of twins in COMEDY OF ERRORS played by one actor each, which (with cutting a few minor characters and additional doubling) brings the cast to 7. This is how we did it for a touring production. 
    1. Both Antipholuses
    2. Both Dromios
    3. Adriana/ Luce
    4. Luciana/ Officer
    5. Egeon/ Dr. Pinch
    6. Emelia/ The Courtesan
    7. The Duke/ Angelo




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  • 3.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-22-2020 07:14
    Complete Works Abridged would work nicely with a cast of 7 males.



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  • 4.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-22-2020 13:28
    There are no all-male Shakespeare plays with only 7 characters - but you don't need to let that stand in your way. You'll need to edit the script, and double up on roles...and of course, one or two boys will need to play female roles, exactly the way Shakespeare presented them!

    I have seen small cast productions of Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, King Lear, and others.

    Billy Houck



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  • 5.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-22-2020 15:25
    You could try Shakespeare's R & J, which is a Romeo and Juliet adaptation by Joe Calarco. I saw it when I was in college, and I remember it being very powerful. It uses only 4 actors that all need to be the same gender so that may work for you there. It is available from Dramatists Here is the description: 

    Four young prep school students, tired of going through the usual drill of conjugating Latin and other tedious school routines, decide to vary their very governed lives. After school, one breaks out a copy of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and they all take turns reading the play aloud. The Bard's words and the story itself are thrilling to the boys, and they become swept away, enmeshed in the emotion so much so that they break school rules in order to continue their readings. The rigidity of their lives begins to parallel the lives of the characters in the play: roles in the family, roles in society, and the roles played by men and women soon seem to make all the sense in the world, and then, suddenly, they seem to make no sense at all. Although they had been taking turns playing all the parts, two eventually emerge playing Romeo and Juliet exclusively, bringing a whole new dimension to the proceedings. Perceptions and understanding are turned upside-down as the fun of play-acting turns serious, and the words and meanings begin to hit home and universal truths emerge.

    ------------------------------
    Christopher Hamilton
    Drama Teacher
    Kennewick WA
    ------------------------------

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  • 6.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-22-2020 16:08
    As John pointed out, a touring script would be a great guide.  I have toured with 5 people in both Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew.  Hamlet actually worked very well because although there are a ton of characters, many of them are on stage for only a couple of scenes and others are easily cut or combined.  I think this was the breakdown:
    1. Hamlet
    2. Claudio/ Ghost/Osric
    3. Ophelia/ Gertrude/ Francisco/ Gravedigger
    4. Laertes/ Player King/ Rosencranz/ Bernardo
    5. Horatio/ Player Queen/ Player Lucianous/ Guildenstern/ Polonius

    ------------------------------
    Elana Kepner
    Theatre Instructor
    The Oakwood School
    Greenville NC
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-22-2020 18:11
    Thanks everyone! I really like the idea of a using a touring script. I don't mind doing the adaptation myself, but am curious if anyone has a version I could preview. Thanks again for the tips!

    ------------------------------
    Christina Vincent
    Director of Theatre
    The Woodhall School
    Bethlehem, CT
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-23-2020 15:24
    I've done three hour-long Shakespeare one-man plays, that could easily be divided up among a company, with one actor playing narrator and everyone else taking on roles. I would be happy to share the scripts with anyone who's interested. I have available:

    "Breakneck Hamlet"
    "Breakneck Julius Caesar"
    "Shakespeare's Histories; Ten Epic Plays at a Breakneck Pace!"

    Tim Mooney

    ------------------------------
    Tim Mooney
    www.timmooneyrep.com
    www.moliere-in-english.com
    ------------------------------

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  • 9.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-23-2020 17:09
    Tim, yes I am interested in them all. I will message you individually with my email. Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Christina Vincent
    Director of Theatre
    The Woodhall School
    Bethlehem, CT
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-23-2020 17:27
    Scripts are on their way!
    Tim

    ------------------------------
    Tim Mooney
    www.timmooneyrep.com
    www.moliere-in-english.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 04-23-2020 19:42
    By the way, as I mentioned to Christina: 

    With touring impossible this spring/summer, I am performing my whole repertory of 8 one-man plays on-line, with a different play every Sunday on Facebook Live and the same play, again on Monday, on Zoom. Here's the schedule for the Shakespeare-oriented events, in case anyone else out there would like to check out what's available (feel free to reach out to me for details):

    April 26/27: LOT O' SHAKESPEARE

    May 10/11: BREAKNECK JULIUS CAESAR

    May 24/25: SHAKESPEARE'S HISTORIES; TEN EPIC PLAYS AT A BREAKNECK PACE!

    June 7/8: BREAKNECK HAMLET

    June 21-22: LOT O' SHAKESPEARE

    July 5-6: BREAKNECK JULIUS CAESAR

    July 19-20: SHAKESPEARE'S HISTORIES, TEN EPIC PLAYS AT A BREAKNECK PACE

    Tim



    ------------------------------
    Tim Mooney
    www.timmooneyrep.com
    www.moliere-in-english.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 12-03-2024 12:26

    Hi, Tim.  I would love to have access to your scripts.  I am the director at a school that does 4-5 Shakespeare plays a year at an annual festival in June.  I need to find something for a cast of 9.  Your scripts may be just the ticket.  

    Marybeth Nelson

    mnelson@rivertreeschool.org

    RiverTree School, Minneapolis MN



    ------------------------------
    Marybeth Nelson
    MN
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Small Cast Shakespeare

    Posted 12-04-2024 14:27

    Thanks for asking, Marybeth!

    I responded to you directly, but I'm noticing that this thread is several years old and thought that people might be interested that (thanks to a large grant from a generous foundation), I am taking on Shakespeare's entire catalogue "Breakneck Style." Our current tour and script collection includes:

    "Breakneck Romeo & Juliet"

    "Breakneck Midsummer Night's Dream" (a one-hour "Midsummer" for 6 actors)

    "Breakneck Hamlet"

    "Breakneck Twelfth Night"

    "Breakneck Comedy of Errors"

    "Breakneck Julius Caesar"

    ... and currently editing "Breakneck King Lear"

    Thanks,

    Tim



    ------------------------------
    Tim Mooney
    TimMooneyRep@gmail.com
    www.TimMooneyRep.com
    www.Moliere-In-English.com
    www.BreakneckShakespeare.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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