"THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (abridged)" through Oct. 17, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Cedar City, 800-752-9849, running time: 2 hours (one intermission).

Delightful. Delightful. Delightful!

That pretty much sums up the Utah Shakespearean Festival's production of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" — a slapstick comedy condensing all of Shakespeare's plays into two hours, and poking a little fun in the meantime.

This play is the closest you'll get to actually seeing Shakespeare during the fall season.

Note to the purists: It's OK. Go ahead and laugh. In "The Merchant of Venice," Shakespeare himself said, "If you tickle us, do we not laugh?" And trust me, tickled you will be.

In fact, only in a venue where the Bard is so revered, and with actors who normally tackle his material — legitimately — could a successful mounting of this show happen.

Longtime Shakespearean actor David Ivers, who performed this summer in "As You Like It," directed. He not only tipped his hat to Shakespeare, but to the festival in Cedar City, as well — complete with a Fred C. Adams statue and set pieces from past USF productions.

In order for three actors to pull off all 37 of the Bard's plays, and his sonnets, they need to be pretty darned good actors.

Luckily for us, they are. USF newcomers Geoffrey Kent, Matthew Mueller and returning actor Quinn Mattfeld are absolutely, well, delightful.

Not wanting to ruin any jokes, I'll be brief:

Mattfeld plays a "pre-eminent Shakespeare expert," and his gags of wanting to pay a true homage, amid the shenanigans of his co-stars, are very funny.

Kent's one-liners and a most-impressive "Superman" kept the audience smiling.

Mueller plays the Shakespearean damsels with aplomb and delivered my favorite promise of the evening: "We promise we will not do any boring, vomitless Shakespeare for you guys." (Trust me, the line is funny.)

Jennifer Caprio's costumes were functional, mixing modern and classic attire, and Jeff Mockus' sound design also incorporated very fun, modern twists on the Bard.

Also, a big bravo to the dressers and crew backstage who make the fast-paced magic happen on stage.

A word of caution to anyone sitting on the first few rows — you may find yourself playfully included in the performance.

I'm sorry, that performance is just plain fun for both Shakespeare connoisseurs and novices alike. And the three actors look like they're having more fun than anyone should be paid to have.

So to all involved, I say thank you for a delightful two hours of laughter. And in the words of the Bard himself, "With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come."

Sensitivity rating: Mild sexual innuendo and gestures.

e-mail: ehansen@desnews.com