William Shakespeare Presents: Terminator the Second

I think I may have been waiting for this all my life.  An unashamed fan of The Bard – not to mention The Terminator movies this hybrid of the two combines Shakespeare and Schwarzenegger seamlessly.  In fact, William Shakespeare Presents Terminator the Second is the premiere production of the Nashville performance collective, Husky Jackal Theater. A product of nearly a year of exploration and alteration, the script tells the strange history of a boy and his cyborg guardian completely in lines and phrases taken from the works of William Shakespeare.

Each line and phrase is taken from original folios, with only proper nouns, pronouns and corresponding verb tenses subject to change. In doing so, the authors were able to accurately recreate the story of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, while remaining true to the words of Shakespeare in form, if less so in intent.

I have never really felt the need to live in, move to or even visit Nashville before now, but that is where WSP: TTS (brevity being the soul of wit as Will would say) is going to be previewed on October 22 – at the Belcourt Theater. 

The film above was made in front of a small audience to promote the show and received standing ovations worthy of a Springsteen-at-his-peak concert. It looks like it is all done with tongue firmly in cheek and despite being a parody, with great fondness both for the works of William and of Arnold. I guess I am just going to have to make do with this wonderful preview instead…