The Merry Wives set in 1930's Ireland

Mistress Page, Falstaff, and Mistress Ford

Mistress Quickly, Nym, Falstaff, and Pistol

Mistress Page, Falstaff, and Mistress Ford

Fenton, Anne Page, Mistress Quickly, Master Page, and Mistress Page

 Master & Mistress Ford

Master & Mistress Page

Fenton and Pistol

Mistress Page, Mistress Ford, and Falstaff

The Faries and The Horned Hunter

- CSF, Fort Worth Star Telegram. 2008

"Mistresses Page and Ford, agreeably played by Lorina Lipscomb and Leslie Patrick, respectively, both looking lovely in Lauren Morgan’s handsome costume design"

- CSF, Fort Worth Star Telegram. 2008

- CSF, Fort Worth Star Telegram. 2008

"Volpone: And this half-hour version of Ben Jonson's most popular title makes a strong case for Deborde as an adapter and director."

- CSF, Fort Worth Star Telegram. 2008

 "Don Pedro has approched from the audience."

 Chuck Benedick and Beatrice Hepburn

 Herr Borachio has heard something verrrrry interesting!

The world must be PEOPLED!

Dogberry and Queen Verges

 AAAAAHHHHH!

The God above that sits above says LOVE ME!

So Let it be written, so let it be done!

Chuck and Bea together at last!

- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fort Worth Star Telegram. 2008

The Condensed Shakespeare Festival 2008!

Fort Worth Star Telegram's Review Guild's fast food take on Shakespeare is full of flavor Review By MARK LOWRY

FORT WORTH -- The Stolen Shakespeare Guild opens its season with its annual "Condensed Shakespeare Festival," and for the first time the entire show feels like a fully conceived event. This gang turns the Bard's five-act plays into one-acts (and in this edition, we get something from Shakespeare contemporary Ben Jonson), but still shows respect for the language (well, not so much with Jonson). Here’s the breakdown:

The Merry Wives: This version leaves off the "of Windsor" of Shakespeare’s original title because adapters Edward Huntingdon and Nathan Autry have moved the action to 1930s Ireland. To Autry, the famous character Falstaff (played memorably by Brad Deborde), always felt like an Irish stereotype. A more comical reason might be that in the Irish brogue (which is nicely executed and in some ways enhances the poetry), the last name of Master and Mistress Ford sounds like a snicker-worthy but vulgar word for "pass gas."

Reduced to 45 minutes, this version keeps the major plot points of Falstaff trying to woo rich married women (Mistresses Page and Ford, agreeably played by Lorina Lipscomb and Leslie Patrick, respectively, both looking lovely in Lauren Morgan’s handsome costume design) and of competition for the hand of Anne Page (Xochitl Chorba), although it downplays Shakespeare’s themes about social class. Still, it’s a fine short version, and makes a strong case for Deborde playing Falstaff in a full-length production of Merry Wives, or for that matter, the Henry IV plays.

		Volpone: And this half-hour version of Ben Jonson's most popular title makes a strong case for Deborde as an adapter and director. Deborde writes in the program notes that he finds the original play "long, drawn out and boring," so his concept is to have a cast of players begin by reading the play, quickly denouncing it as tedious, and then acting out their own version. Along the way, they humorously give the audience clues as to what’s about to happen ("exposition!," "complications!," "judgment!") and throw in some original and funny asides.

Steve Lindsay makes for a sneaky, snarky and delightfully goofy Volpone, the wealthy Venetian who pretends to be dying so he can see who’s after his money. But who cares about how faithful these character portrayals are to Jonson's vision? This version is witty and entertaining, like something playwright Christopher Durang might have done with this Elizabethan classic.

The Short Attention Span Much Ado About Nothing: This 10-minute fast-forwarded version of Much Ado adapted by Huntingdon and directed by Autry and Deborde, is a worthy show-closer, if only for the outrageously over-the-top portrayals. For instance, Joey Folsom's performance (as Benedick) seems to have been inspired by a comment a certain critic made about him in the 2007 CSF. Hey, it had me LOL.

Condensed Shakespeare Festival 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Sanders Theater, 1300 Gendy St., Fort Worth $10-$15 866-811-4111; www.stolenshakespeareguild.com
Be advised: Some sexual humor, but nothing more than what was in the original playwrights’ works.
Runtime: One hour and 45 minutes with one intermission
Best reason to go: Deborde’s take on Volpone