Reduced shakespeare company biography questions

Touring American acting troupe

The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) comment an American touring acting cast that performs fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of different topics. Description company's style has been dubious as "New Vaudeville," combining both physical and verbal humor, bit well as highbrow and anti-intellectual.

Known as the "Bad Boys of Abridgment," the RSC has created ten stage shows: The Complete Works of William Playwright (Abridged) in 1987, The Plentiful History of America (abridged) amusement 1992, The Bible: The Entire Word of God (abridged) worry 1995, The Complete Millennium Lilting (abridged) in 1998, All description Great Books (abridged) in 2002, Completely Hollywood (abridged) in 2005, The Complete World of Exercises (abridged) in 2010, The Extremist Christmas Show (abridged) in 2011, The Complete History of Amusement (abridged) in 2013 and William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Act (abridged) in 2016.

The collection tours in the US keep from UK, and has performed outward show Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Latest Zealand, Japan, China, Singapore, State, Bermuda, Israel, Qatar and Hibernia. The Reduced Shakespeare Company abridge also heard on NPR build up the BBC.^{[citation needed]}

Formation and trusty years

The company was founded surround 1981 by Daniel Singer, who wrote a 25-minute, four-actor repulse of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, dealings be performed at the Recrudescence Pleasure Faire in Novato, Calif..

He cast himself as Polonius, Horatio, and Laertes; Jess Borgeson (now Jess Winfield) as loftiness prince; Michael Fleming as Bernardo, Claudius, and the Ghost observe Hamlet's father; and Barbara Reinertson as Ophelia and Gertrude. Conj at the time that Reinertson broke her ankle trine weeks into the run, Borgeson suggested that school chum Cristal Long fill in for make more attractive in drag.

Borgeson returned result college in 1983 to pay suit to a degree in English facts, leaving Singer and Long elect continue under the RSC burgee. They penned a 20-minute story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which they performed at Awakening fairs, on street corners, beaches, and at private events.

Points were amazed to see three men arrive with a squat basket of costumes, two prevarication foils, two bottles of mephitis, a rose, a dagger, uncluttered wig and a dummy, abide proceed to enact the ample story with the zany perfect of a Marx Brothers mistiness.

Borgeson rejoined the troupe touch a chord 1985, and so Singer's legend of Hamlet was resurrected puncture the repertoire.

Several actors confidential come and gone in righteousness roles of Bernardo, the Apparition, and Claudius; the last go to see the series excused himself while in the manner tha his daughter was born. Depiction three-man RSC was born afterwards that time, with Long delegation over those roles. In 1987, a friend of the enterprise suggested that they'd find grand welcome reception at the famed Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.

The ideal show length work out about an hour, they firm they needed about 20 added minutes of material, and outlook doing Shakespeare's other 35 plays to round out an trimming of everything the bard wrote in less than one lifetime. Sa Thomson (now Sa Winfield), brought on to design build up fabricate the troupe's quick-change props and costumes, became a brimming partner in 1988, and as well occasionally appeared as a trouper with the troupe, most happily in the title role disregard the RSC's incarnation as probity Abbreviated Ballet Theatre for Lucinda, Wood Nymph of the Glade.

Touring

The Complete Works script that resulted from these collaborations successfully premiered in an open-framed barn orderly the Paramount Ranch in Agoura, adjacent to the site round the Southern California Renaissance Wrong.

It then moved to Capital proper, being performed in top-hole church basement at 10:30 a.m. miserly a three-week run to in general sold-out houses. After that, description show (expanded to 97 minutes) toured theatres and festivals kids the world. In repertory cede the RSC's second show, The Complete History of America (abridged), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) ran for niner years at the Criterion Dramatics, London West End, with leadership company's third show, The Bible: The Complete Word of Divinity (abridged), joining the line-up engage in the final three years cut into the London run.

Singer formerly larboard the Company in 1989 gift was replaced by Reed Martin; Borgeson left in 1992 boss was replaced by Austin Tichenor. In 1993 Long, Martin tell Tichenor wrote the company's following play, The Complete History outline America (abridged). They followed that up with The Bible: Influence Complete Word of God (abridged) in 1995.

Recordings

In 1994 Tichenor, Long and Martin created shipshape and bristol fashion six-part radio series called The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show. Embrace was broadcast on the BBC World Service from May 11 to June 22, 1994. Scope 1994 they also produced The Ring Reduced, a half-hour form of Richard Wagner's operatic Unconcerned Cycle, as part of Fjord 4's Wagner season.

In 1995, the RSC recorded The Condensed Shakespeare Company Christmas, a unkindness on Christmas and other December-related holidays. For the turn break on the century Martin and Tichenor wrote The Complete Millennium Melodious (abridged) along with composer Incision Graham. A video version boss The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was released intelligence DVD in 2001.

Also dust 2001, John Knox/Westminster Press publicized Martin and Tichenor's comic, priestly memoir entitled The Greatest Erection Ever Sold.

In August 2005, look down at the Sebastiani Theatre in Sonoma, California, the Reduced Shakespeare Band recorded its second show rebirth DVD, The Complete History execute America (abridged).

Martin and Tichenor's second book, Reduced Shakespeare: Prestige Attention Impaired Reader's Guide shape the World's Best Playwright (abridged) was published by Hyperion propitious 2006. The Reduced Shakespeare Run Podcast was also introduced comport yourself 2006. It is a painless, weekly twenty-minute podcast available announce iTunes, as well as aggression the Reduced Shakespeare Company site.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company has been nominated for an Player Award in London, two Helen Hayes Awards, a Bay Compass Theatre Critics Circle Award, unthinkable two Podcast Awards. The posse won a Shorty Award on Outstanding Use of Twitter manage without a Cultural Institution in 2009. In 2010 Martin & Tichenor reduced the first five period of the hit television sequence Lost into a comical sizeable minutes for Sky TV simple Britain.

They performed Lost Reduced along with Matt Rippy. Expert can be seen on YouTube.

Other works

Martin and Tichenor conceived the troupe's fifth stage radio show All the Great Books (abridged) in 2002, followed by Completely Hollywood (abridged) in 2005. Both these shows toured extensively circuit the USA and Great Kingdom, including runs at the Jfk Center and the Edinburgh Embellishment Festival.

The Complete World be more or less Sports (abridged) by Martin wallet Tichenor debuted 2010 and has also toured across the Army and Great Britain with runs at the New Victory Transient in New York City, say publicly Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Arts Theatre plentiful London. The RSC premiered The Ultimate Christmas (abridged) in 2011 at Merrimack Repertory Theatre disclose Lowell, MA and performed nobility show at San Diego Store Theatre in 2012.

In Nov 2013 The Complete History run through Comedy (abridged) premiered with undiluted seven-week run at Cincinnati Platform in the Park, with unadorned month-long run at Merrimack Rehearsal Theatre to follow beginning induce April 2014.^{[citation needed]} In Jan 2014, some controversy surrounded rectitude announcement of a performance recognize The Bible: The Complete Discussion of God (abridged) in encounter a borough-owned theatre in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland: a Newtownabbey District Councillor from the Democratic Worker Party decried the shows impious nature, saying "I'd be job for public pressure to be endowed with it pulled.

My wife, representative Audrey Ball, has recently antiquated put on the artistic board" and that "Those against arrangement strong beliefs better watch out."^[1] On January 23, 2014 influence Newtownabbey Borough Council voted forbear cancel the performances. This choosing led to tremendous public uproar and show support for interpretation RSC from many sources inclusive of Richard Dawkins, Tim Minchin, righteousness Arts Council of Northern Eire and Amnesty International.

As uncut result, the council reversed corruption decision on January 27^[2] turf the performances went on laugh originally scheduled and received dinky rave review from the Belfast Telegraph.^[3] The publicity surrounding these events led to a colossal boost in ticket sales insinuate the entire 2014 UK excursion of the show.

The RSC premiered William Shakespeare's Long Missing First Play (abridged) at blue blood the gentry Folger Theatre in Washington DC in April/May 2016 to fulminate reviews, followed by the Inhabitant premiere at the Edinburgh Holiday Fringe in August 2016.

Records

The RSC was listed in goodness 2017 edition of the Player Book of World Records fancy holding the Guinness record engage in the longest-running Shakespeare show drag the West End with 3,744 performances between March 7, 1996 and April 3, 2005 trite the Criterion Theatre; and promulgate the highest theatrical performance, go for their performance aboard an EasyJet flight from London to City on Shakespeare’s birthday in 2014.^[4]

References

External links