Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised]

As part of Leamington’s Hobgoblin Comedy Festival, I had the delight of experiencing the talents of The Reduced Shakespeare Company. The company began in 1981 in California and since then it has toured all around the world with a three man acting troupe, as well as having a 9 year stint on the West End. The RSC take, as they put it “long, serious subjects and reduces them to short, sharp comedies” and at the Royal Spa Centre they tackled the great bard himself.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] covered all 36 of Shakespeare’s plays in fun, silly and fresh ways that was both hilarious and accessible. Some plays were focused on in more detail and others condensed to the bare bones of an idea; for example Othello became an improvised rap; Titus Andronicus was performed like a cooking show, like the bloodiest GBBO you’ve ever seen; while the Histories were all played out in the style of an American football game in which the crown was the ultimate prize.  All three actors, Simon Cole, Gary Fannin and Matt Rippy complemented one another and created a sense of camaraderie that extended out into a brilliant rapport with the audience. The out of character interaction between the three men made the performance even more enjoyable as the audience could see just how much fun these guys were having. The limited set and props allowed the actors to create the different plays through a mix of Shakespeare’s words, their own hilarious asides and through good old fashioned slapstick and silliness.

The entire second half was dedicated to deconstructing Hamlet, arguably Shakespeare’s finest piece of work and one that exemplified just how talented and clever the company truly are. Rather than doing the obvious and labouring over the famous “To Be Or Not To Be” speech they chose rather to do a psychological exploration of Ophelia that involved tonnes of audience participation and by this point we were all in fits of giggles anyway and so were more than happy to go along for the ride. The audience itself was made up of a complete mix of people, from young, old, families and couples and even lone rangers like me which in itself proved just how widespread the appeal of this company and Shakespeare truly is.

When the actors took their final bow, the audience were still on a high, impressed with the sheer energy and dedication of the cast to ensure that everyone had a good time and had seen Shakespeare in a totally new light.

What I enjoyed most about the performance was that the company were not afraid to expose the seemingly limiting nature of the bard, to admit that some of his plays were better than others and to confess that it appears to be something highbrow and inaccessible. These ideas though were subverted and debunked over 97 minutes of hilarity and silliness that would entertain both lovers and loathers of the great playwright.

The company are touring the show all around the country for the next two months but promised to return to Leamington with another reduced special, this time tackling the word of God with their abridged version of the Bible. I for one will be wanting front row seats!