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<p>KINGSTON &#8212; If you&#8217;re an actor who really loves Shakespeare, do you dream of appearing onstage as the playful Puck? Or is a tragic king more your style? Perhaps you would enjoy taunting a certain Scottish thane as you stirred your cauldron?</p><p>With so many intriguing characters in the Bard&#8217;s repertory, from mischievous sprite to mysterious witch, you could spend a lifetime trying to play them all.</p><p>Or you might do it all in one evening &#8212; if you&#8217;re one of three players in &#8220;William Shakespeare&#8217;s Long Lost First Play.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I play Puck. I play King Lear,&#8221; Reed Martin said in a telephone interview. &#8220;I&#8217;m one of the weird sisters from &#8216;the Scottish play.&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>Those are just a few of at least 15 roles Martin will handle March 24 when the Reduced Shakespeare Company brings its rapid-fire spoof to Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Kirby Center for Creative Arts.</p><p>&#8220;I lose count,&#8221; he admitted with a laugh.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Falstaff at one point,&#8221; Martin said, naming a character famous for his girth and his belief that some merry wives will find him attractive.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Lady Macbeth &#8212; ooh, gosh, I just said it,&#8221; he said, playing on the idea that theater folks believe the &#8220;M&#8221; word is bad luck.</p><p>Lady M, by the way, won&#8217;t necessarily be interacting with her beloved husband in the show.</p><p>&#8220;One of the most fun things is juxtaposing characters from different plays together,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;Poor old Hamlet, who can&#8217;t make a decision, is matched up with the master motivator, Lady Macbeth, who can make anybody do anything. The three witches turn out to be King Lear&#8217;s three daughters.&#8221;</p><p>In crafting the show, Martin said, &#8220;We wanted to at least quote or mention every play in the canon.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The conceit is, we performed &#8216;Titus Vandronicus&#8217; with a parked van in a parking lot,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;We see a hole in the parking lot and find some utterly unimportant old bones and a huge ancient manuscript that Shakespeare wrote when he was 17.&#8221;</p><p>A masterful work, no doubt?</p><p>&#8220;It was terrible, and it&#8217;s 100 hours long,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;As a 17-year-old he had all these ideas crammed together.&#8221;</p><p>The trimmed version the actors present is faster paced and more palatable, especially if you like to laugh.</p><p>&#8220;The tragedies were easier to make fun of (than the comedies),&#8221; Martin said.</p><p>Even if people are unfamiliar with Shakespeare&#8217;s work, he said, they&#8217;ll enjoy the humor of the show, which pits two mystical creatures &#8212; Puck and Ariel &#8212; against each other.</p><p>&#8220;They were best friends when they were kids,&#8221; Martin explained. &#8220;We reference that something went awry. My theory is they had a crush on each other and they had a fight.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">When you find a manuscript for a play 100 hours long, what are you to do? If you are members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company appearing in &#8216;William Shakespeare&#8217;s Long Lost First Play,&#8217; you trim it way down. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_longlostshake1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>When you find a manuscript for a play 100 hours long, what are you to do? If you are members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company appearing in &#8216;William Shakespeare&#8217;s Long Lost First Play,&#8217; you trim it way down. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_longlostshake2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Alas, poor Yorick? The skull seems to have sprouted some hair. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_longlostshake2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Alas, poor Yorick? The skull seems to have sprouted some hair. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photos </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_longlostshake3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">It seems that Bottom, the character from &#8216;A Midsummer Night&#8217;s Dream&#8217; who ends up with a donkey&#8217;s head, will make an appearance in &#8216;William Shakespeare&#8217;s Long Lost First Play.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_longlostshake3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>It seems that Bottom, the character from &#8216;A Midsummer Night&#8217;s Dream&#8217; who ends up with a donkey&#8217;s head, will make an appearance in &#8216;William Shakespeare&#8217;s Long Lost First Play.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photos </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>&#8216;William Shakespeare&#8217;s Long Lost First Play&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who:</strong> Performed by the Reduced Shakespeare Company</p><p><strong>When: </strong> 7:30 p.m. March 24</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Kirby Center for Creative Arts, 260 North Sprague Ave., Kingston</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $10</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-270-2190.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Sem. brings ‘William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play’ to Kingston