Comedian performs King Lear in just one minute

A man has managed to get William Shakespeare’s King Lear down to a manageable one minute in a video posted to Twitter.

Alasdair Beckett-King, an award-winning comedian, opens the video by complaining to camera that the play is far too long and needs speeding up.

He then explains that he’s cut the play down by simply using the 115 most frequently used words in order of the frequency of their appearance.

The result is a Shakespearean soliloquy for the ages, not a tale told by an idiot necessarily but undoubtedly full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.

The internet responded to this abbreviated version with delight.

More: The definitive list of William Shakespeare's most popular plays

More: The 46 finest insults William Shakespeare gave the English language