Cheapjack Shakespeare is a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

and

stage play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Reading (process), reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Pla ...

created by Shaun McLaughlin and produced by Gabriel Benson. Though it was initially published as a

, it was adapted from a

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

and the

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...

s for an unproduced film. ''Cheapjack Shakespeare'' was later adapted as a play.

Plot

''Cheapjack Shakespeare'' revolves around a college Shakespeare company falling apart as they attempt to stage an outdoor production, with cast members being unfaithful with each other.

Stage play

In June 2010, it was announced that the comic would be produced as a stage play, ''Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Non-Musical''. This premiered in

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

on September 9, 2010, at the Alt Theatre, directed by Drew McCabe. The cast included Kristin Bentley, Arin Lee Dandes and Daniel Morris. This production broke sales records for the Alt Theater.

Reception

''Comic Attack'' praised the comic, calling it "heartfelt" and praising the plotting, while noting that the 3D-rendering-style art would put off many people. Jeff Wilber found the tale of amateur dramatics to be true to life, but disliked the art, which is produced using storyboarding software of the kind used in the

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

industry.

References

{{Reflist American webcomics American plays 2010 webcomic debuts