Looking for an abridged script for your Shakespeare production? Check out our archive of abridged scripts.
In exchange for providing these, all we ask is that you credit Wichita Shakespeare Company and the name of the editor(s) as listed. We would also like to hear if you use our script for a production! Find us on Facebook at:
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The actor’s scripts formatted as book signature half sheets in landscape, and the director’s scripts are formatted as full sheets in portrait. You may need to experiment to determine what flipping orientation you need to set your printer for.
Much Ado About Nothing – Edited by Jane Tanner and Vonda Schuster. This edit was produced by Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2008 with a running time of approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Much Ado about Nothing (Actor’s Script)
Much Ado about Nothing (Director’s Script)
Hamlet – Edited and adapted by Mark D Anderson. This edit was produced by the Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2015 with a running time of approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes. In this adaptation, the genders of the characters have been twisted.
Two Gentlemen of Verona – Edited and adapted by Kevin Sowers. This edit was produced by the Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2013 with a running time of approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes. In this edit, much of the Julia/Luchetta “suitor” scene has been cut for brevity.
Two Noble Kinsmen – Edited and adapted by Dan Schuster. This edit was produced by the Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2006 with a running time of approximately 2 hours. In this edit and adaptation, Emilia was haunted literally by the ghost of her childhood friend, Flavina. In the scene with Emilia and her waiting woman, the ghost of Flavina was given the waiting woman’s lines. In the play, Emilia is put in a very difficult situation – having to choose between Palamon and Arcite, neither of which she really desires. In Emilia’s alter scene at Diana’s temple, Flavina’s ghost interrupted and stopped a sucide attempt by her.
Two Noble Kinsmen (Actor’s Script)
Two Noble Kinsman (Director’s Script)
Macbeth – Edited and adapted by Mark Schuster
Macbeth (Actor’s Script)
Macbeth (Director’s Script)
The Merry Wives of Windsor – Edited and adapted by Jane Tanner
Merry Wives of Windsor (Actor’s Script)
Merry Wives of Windsor (Director’s Script)
Pericles – Edited and adapted by Dan Schuster. This edit was produced by the Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2008 with a running time of approximately 2 hours. One of the most successful adaptations, in Dan’s opinion, the show was highly theatrical in nature with a cast of nine (4 women and 5 men) playing all the roles. The role of Gower was changed to that of a collaborative chorus, with varying members of the ensemble performing each chorus bit. The actor portraying Pericles played no other role. The ensemble also portrayed various theatrical elements as called for in the script – waves of the sea, a ship’s mast, etc. If you need further information on the actual character breakdown used for each ensemble member, please let us know.
Pericles (Actor’s Script)
Pericles (Director’s Script)
Romeo and Juliet – Edited and adapted by Jane Tanner
Romeo and Juliet (Actor’s Script)
Romeo and Juliet (Director’s Script)
Taming of the Shrew – Edited and adapted by Vonda Schuster
Taming of the Shrew (Actor’s Script)
Taming of the Shrew (Director’s Script)
Troilus and Cressida – Edited and adapted by Dan Schuster. This edit was produced by the Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2011 with a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes. The last act was cut and rearranged immensely, in what hopefully aded to the dramatic flow of action. Ulysses killed Patroclus on stage in an attempt to rile Achilles. Achilles only entered to see Hector leaving the side of Patroclus’ body, which he had stumbled upon. The roles of Thersites and Calchas were changed to women. At the top of her only scene, Calchas enters blessing the Greek warriors in a riutalistic ceremony.
Troilus and Cressida (Actor’s Script)
Troilus and Cressida (Director’s Script)
Twelfth Night – Edited by Vonda Schuster
Twelfth Night (Actor’s Script)
Twelfth Night (Director’s Script)
The Winter’s Tale – Edited and adapted by Dan Schuster. This edit has been produced twice – in 2002 by the Wichita Shakespeare Company and 2005 by Derby Community Theatre, with a running time of approximately 2 hours. In this edit and adaptation, the roles of Autolycus and Time have been doubled, with Time literally becoming Autolycus to further the action in the second half of the show. It also helped to centralize the character of Time (since Time, as a “theme,” is crucial to the play).
The Winter’s Tale (Actor’s Script)
The Winter’s Tale (Director’s Script)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Edited and adapted by Zoe Burke. This edit was produced by Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2016.
A Midsummer Nights Dream (Actor’s Script)
Julius Caesar – Edited and adapted by Mark D Anderson. This all-women edit was produced by Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2012.
Timon of Athens – Edited and adapted by Mark D Anderson. This edit was produced by Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2018.
Richard III – Edited and adapted by Lauren Carlton. This edit was produced by Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2021.
Richard III Edit
A Taste of Shakespeare – Edited by Jane Tanner, Vonda Schuster, Liz Anderson, Dan Schuster, Ed Belsan, Ben Blankley. This edit was produced by Wichita Shakespeare Company in 2023, and has a running time of an hour and a half. It includes abridged scenes from the following scripts: As You Like It, Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Henry V, King Lear, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Cymbeline, King of Britain, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Taming of the Shrew, A Winter’s Tale.
A Taste of Shakespeare Script