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| “A send
up of send ups of Shakespeare’s vast literary output.” - R.J. Nickerson, New England Entertainment Digest |
| $6.25/individual copy
$75/package + |
Shake-A-Spear by Michael Legge
#2004-0004
ISBN #1-933159-030
See also Michael Legge's comedies The Fabulous Imbecile and Time Was
Cast Requirements:
In order of appearance...
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The Setting
The palace and surroundings of King Richard the Zero, medieval times.
Plot Summary
Toronto is a palace guard under the reign of King Richard the Zero, the man who, unbeknownst to Toronto, murdered his parents and sister. Foretold by the ghost of his father, Flagulous, Toronto’s sister, Hermaphra, has come back, thanks to the help of the sea-worthy Captain Lowder, to seek her family’s revenge on Richard. By disguising herself as the King’s page, Hermaphra positions herself in the palace and solicits the help of holy men Abbot and Brother Louis, not to mention two bumbling guards, Gildersleeve and Lipencrantz. Toronto bribes the old witch, Magda, for family information, and the two are off to kill the king.
Add in the King’s servant Wayugly, Queen Whackatha, Clodis (the Queen’s lady), Cutler (Clodis’ mother), the Duchess of Warthog, Duke Nukem, Lord and Lady Upchuck and the village idiot, Sputum, and you have a medieval comedy sure to make The Bard turn in his grave.
| Production Notes from the Author Because of it's absurd premise, you can get away with a lot in terms of set, costumes and props. In the original production, the set consisted of a black curtain, and about a dozen black boxes which during scene changes were rearranged to make each scene, like building blocks. This is the fastest and most economical way to keep the pace flowing. Costumes consisted of black turtleneck or long sleeve T shirts and tights
or sweatpants for the men, with a tunic made of felt to go over them. The guards had
palace insignias on their tunics. The king and queen wore crowns, and our Queen wore a
long red satin dress. Female servants and the fruit seller wore period long flowing skirts
and peasant shirts. The clergymen wore simple sackcloth made from sheets and dyed.
Hermaphra's phony genitals were several sponges stuffed in her tights. The guests at the
party simply all wore long black haired wigs, cardboard crowns, and both men and women
wore beard and mustaches to match the Richard in our production.
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Author Biography
As he says himself, Michael Legge has
been a film maker, playwright, actor and director for "too many years." He
is the Artistic Director of the Medway (MA) Players and prides his group on the fact that
they prefer to stage unpublished works and new plays. When he can't do that, he
searches for old, obscure plays that no one else does. Shake-A-Spear is his
first published play. His previous plays include The Fabulous Imbecile, Shake
and Memoirs of a Gorilla. He is currently working on a new play, Time
Was.
Legge is also the head of his own production company, Sideshow Cinema, which has been producing no budget feature length comedies for 20 years. His movies, Honey Glaze, Braindrainer, Loons and Cutthroats are all available on DVD and can be easily found online. His newest movie, Democrazy, was released in January'05.
Michael has no plans to "grow up" anytime soon.
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