Even the most passionate Shakespeare aficionados will admit that among the Bard’s three-dozen-plus comedies, tragedies and history plays, there are some parts that can drag on a bit.

Edit out the slow spots, though, and you’ve got some real entertainment — that’s the premise of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged,” playing this weekend at Justin-Siena High School in Napa.

The hit comedy by the Reduced Shakespeare Company (Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield) gives its three actor-characters one tall order:

“They try to cover everything Shakespeare ever wrote, and they make a terrible mess of it and it’s really hilarious,” said 17-year-old Justin-Siena senior Jordan Joske, who is directing the all-student production.

With a handful of props — car antennas are both swords and scepters — some wigs and a few costumes, the actors race from plot to plot in their frantic effort to complete all the plays by the closing curtain.

Their shortcuts include condensing all 16 comedies into a single script called “The Love Boat Goes to Verona,” and reducing the history plays to a football game (the crown is the ball).

The tragedies are brief, bloody and ridiculous: A creepy Titus Andronicus hosts a cooking show; Julius Caesar has a pizza-Italian accent, while Macbeth’s is lifted straight from Scotty on “Star Trek.”

Irreverently tackling the 400-year-old plays as if they were so many waves to surf, “Shakespeare, Abridged” also pokes fun at modern society:

“Just because we’re white doesn’t mean we can’t do “Othello,” says one of the actors, and sure enough: They rap the story — all of it — in less than 90 seconds.

Cross-generational appeal

Written 20 years ago, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged” has been performed around the world; but Joske first fell for the comedy in her home town.

“The first time I saw this was when Napa Rep did it at the Opera House three years ago,” she said. Joske, her younger sister and their mother all loved the show.

“It’s got cross-generational appeal,” she said. “It’s just really crazy, and it’s a fun take on Shakespeare.”

So fun, in fact, that Joske was overwhelmed with talent when she called auditions for the show. She wound up rehearsing two complete casts, each of which will perform one matinee and one evening show. Cast X, with Jeffrey Gerlomes, Michael Starr and Eric Quast, will appear on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Cast Y, with John Malin, Robert Francis and Vincent Beard, will perform the evening show Saturday and the matinee Sunday.

An experienced actress who has been in nearly every school production during her years at Justin-Siena, Joske makes her debut as a director with “Shakespeare, Abridged.”

 “I prefer being on stage to behind it,” she said, but the experience has been “really, really fun and eye-opening.”

Joske, her casts, and her tech crew are producing the show on their own time, with no extra credit or staff supervision. The school advanced a small sum for production costs, she said, but that must be repaid from ticket sales.

The Justin-Siena cafeteria theater seats just 75, so Joske recommends coming early.

“If it is sold out, just show up earlier the next night,” she said. “We really need to sell tickets.”