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Culture Stage

Sparring with Shakespeare

Rating: NNNNN


Though it’s known for new works, the Fringe still showcases its share of classic texts – not surprisingly, works by Shakespeare. We’ve seen versions of Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III and, probably the most popular, Macbeth.

But no company’s been cheekier with the Bard than Upstart Crow. Over five years, the troupe has produced Shakespeare’s entire canon on various playing fields around town, all staged as sporting events, with the original texts adapted by Chris Coculuzzi and Matt Toner.

2001 – Shakespeare’s Rugby Wars turned most of the Wars Of The Roses (the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III) into a belligerent rugby match.

2002 – Shakespeare’s World Cup took the Bard’s four best-?known tragedies and created national teams battling for the soccer championship: Scotland (Macbeth), Italy (Othello), Denmark (Hamlet) and England (King Lear).

2003 – Shakespeare’s Gladiator Games recycled the other tragedies into a giant Roman Coliseum-style free-for-all.

2004 – Shakespeare’s Comic Olympics devised various physical contests for the characters in the comedies and romances.2005 – Shakespeare’s NHL (National History League) finished up the series, combining all the thus-?far unused history plays into a hockey competition complete with brawls and a death-match playoff.

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