Those of us that could not connect with the works of Shakespeare in our early teenage years might be put off by the idea of sitting through a play of Richard III.

The Rosebriar Shakespeare Company thinks it is time to inflate the comic relief in its take of the play, “Richard 3D” starring a half-puppet, half-human King Richard.

“Two other companies were doing the play,” said Steve Emerson, director of “Richard 3D.” “We wanted to try to find a different approach.”

And they found it — with puppets borrowed from the Columbus Puppetry Guild, the theater company envisioned the figures opening their mouths to the prose of Shakespeare.

As if puppets weren’t enough, Emerson cut the play to two hours as opposed to the expected three, a feat considering the size of the cast.

“We have 42 parts being played by ten actors,” Emerson said. “So that’s a lot of costume changes.”

There is a scene when one actor asks for another character, only to run backstage and change into the requested one.

Each actor plays two to nine roles each call and has multiple costume changes, as well as uses body part props to create characters.

When asked how the show is going to be in 3-D, Danielle Filas, the artistic director of the Rosebriar Shakespeare Company, said the great thing about live theater is that it all is in 3-D and you don’t have to wear funny glasses.

The title pokes fun at the eruption of 3-D film releases in the past year, all while appropriately keeping Richard’s generational suffix in tact.

“I’m jazzed by the guiding principle behind the Rosebriar Shakespeare Theatre mission,” Filas said. “To give Shakespeare CPR.”

When taught in schools, Shakespeare can seem to be unapproachable, so Rosebriar is trying to create an experience the Bard’s Theatre would put on back in the day — dopy and racy.

“I recommend people to stop by the concession stand to get a cocktail and popcorn,” Emerson said.

The show will be running at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, from Oct. 22 through Nov. 6 at the Gateway Film Center. There will be a special midnight performance Saturday Oct. 23 and an additional performance Thursday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students.

The theater company’s next play is “Winter’s Tale,” which will open Spring 2011.