This was a show I had to survive more than produce. No one was willing to play poor Duke Vincentio so, much to Shakespeare's dismay, I had to do it along with all of my other duties. Plus this was the summer that we all found out just how hot The Shed could get. By the following summer Amy and I had decided that working in the summer months just wasn't going to happen. Still had to pay rent on The Shed though.
I really love this play and I'm really proud of the results. It was also an opportunity to get over what I think is a ludicrious fear and 'respect' for Shakespeare. So I cut the hell out of it. Entire characters fell by the way side and I trimmed a three hour play down to under two hours. My own personal feeling is that back in the day theatre audiences literally had all freaking day for a show. Not so much now as people have DVRs and Internet porn to get home to.
This show almost killed me.