Marin Shakespeare Company’s opening show of the summer, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged,) celebrates “the common folk, the groundlings,” in a romping send-up of the Bard’s traditions and excesses. Since the groundlings of Shakespeare’s day paid only token admission and had to sit on the bare ground in all weather, we can assume they loved theatre.

But a nearer ancestor of the show, says Director Robert Currier, is the old Blackpoint Renaissance Faire, where authors Borgeson, Long and Singer gave Complete Works its start. Though their play has become “one of the most successful plays in the English language,” much of the dusty old Faire still clings to it. The show’s humor is still bawdy and broad, with weird props, running gags, cross-dressing, barf gags, flatulence sounds and audience participation. Yet, even with this work’s age and experience, parts of it – such as the politically-themed introduction -- still seem to be under construction.

Of the Works themselves, Romeo and Juliet is first up, with flying puppets filling in the cast of three. Look for a delightful riff on Romeo’s response to Juliet’s “Wherefore” speech, when he replies, “Call me but love . . . “ and she does.

Next comes Titus Andronicus (Jarion Monroe) as the French-accented chef in a cooking show, explaining, in his bloodsoaked apron, how he is making the preparations to cook his daughter’s mutilator.

Othello begins as a pirate story, but ends as a rap about the big news story of the ‘90s, with frequent references to Johnny Cochrane and the warning, “If the pillow don’t fit, you must acquit.” Some of this may be lost on younger members of the audience.

Shakespeare’s comedies (“They’re not as funny as the tragedies”) are lumped together into one great, hyperbolic blob. Here we have three identical twins, a Duke’s brother’s sons, a shipwreck, disguises, servants, lovers disguised as servants, mistaken identities, and one happy ending: “They all get married and go out to dinner.”

The Scottish Play (it’s unlucky to say M----th on stage) is delivered by tartan-clad Scotsmen with thick Scottish accents and a “Star Wars” accompaniment on the bagpipe.

We also have a high-speed, but definitively stabbed Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida with Godzilla overtones, and either Two Noble Kinsmen or Chernobyl Kinsmen, not sure which. The War of the Roses is decided in a football game, with the crown serving as the ball, being hiked, passed, carried by a hunchback, and ending with all players in a pileup on the field.

Hamlet, “the one that has Ideas,” takes up the whole the second act. It rolls along merrily until another under-construction moment occurs, with Hamlet (Ryan Schmidt) apparently contemplating his soliloquy with an outstretched dagger in a shrinking spotlight. All action stops as he does this twice. But Darren Bridgett’s repeat of his audience favorite, “What a piece of work is a man,” is played straight and a strong reminder of the power of the original. The actors finish Hamlet, then go through it again, faster, and finally, backward. (Yorick’s skull makes several vaults over the backdrop.)

This quantity of acrobatics and costume changes could not be staged without three accomplished actors: Jarion Monroe, who will be seen in next month’s Henry IV, Darren Bridgett, who has already played Complete Works three times, and Marin newcomer, Ryan Schmidt of Sonoma. Recognition is also due for Billie Cox’s creative sound effects, Joel Eis’ fast-paced props, and Rebecca Redmond’s heavy-duty costumes.

The play runs just under two hours, and the amphitheatre cools off quickly once the sun goes down. Warm layers are advised. And though plenty of children were in the audience on opening night, the older ones appeared to be enjoying themselves most. Families who want to risk a sloppy, but memorable theatre experience should take their pre-teens and sit in the front rows.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) will be at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre on the Dominican Campus in San Rafael, 1475 Grand Avenue, through August 12. Show times are at 8pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and also at 4pm on Sundays. For complete prices and specials, see the website, or call the box office at 499-4488.