What does the word “minumus” mean? If you asked the participants of this week’s Natchez Little Theatre Workshop they probably would shrug their shoulders with a blank stare.

Natchez Little Theatre workshop participants take on each other in a classic duel of words in a Shakespearean slugfest Click here for slideshowFor more pictures go to www.natchezscene.com. Click here for Natchez Scene

But they would all agree on one thing. It was the best word of the night when slinging Shakespearean insults.

Robert Williams, a Mississippi native now working in Los Angeles, spent Tuesday evening teaching students about the fine art of acting during a special workshop presented at the theater on Maple Street in Natchez.

And he used the classic words of Shakespeare to do it. Well, classic might not be the best way to describe the prose that was slung from the mouths of the participants Tuesday night.

The writer who was famous for such lines as “O Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo” was also famous for his witty use of words to sling insults. And those were the words that were used in Tuesday night’s Shakespearean slap down.

Williams is the founding member and artistic director of Dancing Barefoot Productions, a critically acclaimed theatre company in West Holywood, Calif. He is a company member of the Tim Robbins’ The Actors Gang. He has also starred and produced the longest running comedy in Los Angeles, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.”

The Shakespearean slugfest was just the opening exercise of Tuesday night’s workshop. After hurling 16th century insults, the members of the workshop went on to learn other more modern, but just as fun, acting techniques.

Click on the following link to get a taste of the night’s slugfest: Audio slideshow.