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(More customer reviews)When the Reduced Shakespeare Company performs , it is a case of three apparently indefatigable actors (Adam Long, Reed Martin, Austin Tichenor) whirlwinding through the plays, some of which are barely mentioned, some of which are treated at greater length--all in 90 minutes. Well, the Good News is that the show is now available from Acorn Media on a VHS. (Note: this video contains material not shown on PBS.)
To cut to the chase, you really have to know your Bard to get all the jokes. Treating "Titus Andronicus" as a cooking class works if you are familiar enough with the plot (the recent movie might help here); and unless you know your English kings from Richard II to Richard III (with all the Henrys in the middle), the football game with a crown as ball will have little meaning. ( I thought the line about cutting Henry VI into three parts was the best in this sketch.)
Possibly the bit that calls for the audience's greatest degree of knowledge and concentration is the resume of a plot that combines all the Shakespearean comedies into a single play (with a very long title). There are plenty of in-jokes and bad puns throughout Act I to demand your fullest attention--and again, few of them work if you do not know the originals.
The first act ends with a little situation in which one of the troupe refuses to do "Hamlet" and flees from the theater. When Act II begins, he has not been brought back and the remaining actor must fill the time with Monty Python-like bad routines. Once back on track, the audience is enlisted to help one of their number (I assume she is not a plant) "feel" the part of Ophelia. The trio's versatility is put to the test at the very end when they repeat the entire Hamlet production quickly, then very quickly, and finally very quickly and backwards!
So all in all, this is a joyous romp for those "in the know" and one that might seem pretty pointless for those who have avoided Shakespeare once school was over. Therefore I must give it 4 stars out of 5 in general, although it deserves 5-plus for those who have stuck with the iambics all these years.
A perfect gift for your English teacher, by the way. Unless you are an English teacher, in which case buy one for yourself.
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