REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

For engagements in 21-22 and beyond, please contact Kosson Talent


For engagements in 21-22 and beyond, please contact Kosson Talent

 

REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY – Biography

WATCH

Election 2020: The Complete History of America (abridged)

 

Hamlet

 

The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)

 

LISTEN

The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged), 30-Second Radio Spot

Hamlet’s Big Adventure (a prequel), 30-Second Radio Spot

REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

A Reduced History
 

Since its pass-the-hat origins in 1981, the Reduced Shakespeare Company has created eleven world-renowned stage shows, two television specials, several failed TV pilots, and numerous radio pieces, all of which have been performed, seen, and heard the world over. The company’s itinerary has included stops off-Broadway, at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s West End, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre and Montreal’s famed Just For Laughs Festival, as well as performances in Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Malta, Singapore and Bermuda, plus countless civic and university venues throughout the USA, the UK, and Europe.

RSC’s first three shows – The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged), and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) – ran for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus as London’s longest-running comedies. In fact, for years the RSC had more shows running in the West End than Andrew Lloyd Webber. They were also funnier.

In 2019, the RSC unveiled Hamlet’s Big Adventure! (a prequel) which had its international premiere at the Tel Aviv Festival before embarking on a national tour of the USA. In honor of the company’s 35th anniversary and the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, the RSC premiered its tenth stage show, William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged), at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC. In 2013 the “Bad Boys of Abridgment” unveiled The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) to critical and commercial acclaim at both Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Merrimack Repertory Theatre, as well as on national tours of the USA and UK. In 2011 came the world premiere of The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) which became Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s best-selling holiday show ever, and the third-best-selling show in MRT’s history and also enjoyed a successful run at San Diego Repertory Theatre as well as multiple tours across the USA. The Complete World of Sports (abridged) opened in 2010 at Merrimack Rep and after touring the USA and UK, ran at the Arts Theatre in London during the 2012 London Olympics.

The RSC applied its fast, funny and physical approach to World History in Western Civilization: The Complete Musical (abridged) [original title: The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged)], which toured simultaneously in the US, UK and Australia. They condensed literature into a 90-minute roller-coaster ride in All the Great Books (abridged), which has played to great acclaim at the Kennedy Center, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Seattle’s ACT Theatre, and Alabama Shakespeare Festival, as well as Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, and Sweden (in Swedish!). They skewered the 186 greatest movies of all time Completely Hollywood (abridged), which has received critical kudos across the US and UK, as well as Belgium, Holland, Hong Kong, and Barbados.

For TV, the RSC compressed the first five seasons of Lost into a ten-minute film called Lost Reduced, and was a Jeopardy! category in the 2005 and 2006 Tournaments of Champions. They wrote and starred in The Ring Reduced, a half-hour version of Wagner’s Ring Cycle for Channel 4 (UK), and reduced the Edinburgh Festival for BBC and the soap opera Glenroe for RTE Ireland. Shakespeare (abridged) aired on PBS and is available on DVD, as is America (abridged).

Their illustrated children’s book Pop-Up Shakespeare (with art by Jennie Maizels) was published by Walker Books and Candlewick Press in 2017. Hyperion published their irreverent reference book Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged). The company established its own imprint Reduced Books to publish the comic memoir How The Bible Changed Our Lives (Mostly For The Better) in all e-book formats.

For National Public Radio, the RSC has been heard on All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, Day to Day, West Coast Live, and To The Best of Our Knowledge. The BBC World Service commissioned the six-part Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show. The Reduced Shakespeare Company Christmas was heard on Public Radio International.

The RSC won the prestigious Shorty Award in New York City and the Delft Audience Award in Holland. They’ve also been nominated for an Olivier Award in London, two Helen Hayes Awards in Washington, DC, the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, and several podcast awards.

RSC scripts are published in the US and UK, and translated into over a dozen languages. The RSC Radio Show, RSC Christmas, and Bible (abridged) are all available on CD and from iTunes.

The RSC has set two Guinness World Records™: For “Longest Running Shakespeare Show in the West End” and for Highest Theatrical Performance at 37,000 feet aboard an EasyJet flight from London to Verona on Shakespeare’s birthday in 2014. The RSC also creates unique entertainments for corporate events, working with such companies as Sky-TV, Time Magazine, Motorola, and Rotary International.

And the RSC Podcast, free 20-minute conversations with actors, authors, playwrights, and comedians that Broadway World calls “One of the Top Ten Podcasts for Theatre Fans!” is available every week at iTunes and www.reducedshakespeare.com.