The first production of the new year, indeed the new decade, at the  nearby Ghent Playhouse will be The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, co-directed Tony Pallone and Colleen Lovett, both relative newcomers to the Ghent Playhouse scene, although Mr. Pallone will be remembered as the lead horse in their 2005 production of Equus. The production opens January 15 and closes January 31 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a Monty Python-esque romp through the work of the greatest playwright in the English language, with a tiny cast of actors playing all the roles in all the plays. That’s right, ALL…albeit in abridged form. From gender-bender casting to “Titus Andronicus” staged as a cooking show to a backwards version of “Hamlet,” this frenetic roller coaster ride offers something for everyone, be they scholar or simpleton, schoolchild or septuagenarian. The play was written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, a group known for writing and performing unsubtle, fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of huge topics. “Complete Works (Abridged)” was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 and later played at the Criterion Theatre in London, where it ran for nine years. It has been performed all over the world in a variety of languages — sometimes even in languages the audiences could understand

Brook Farm Inn recommends “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” at Ghent Playhouse