REDUCED SHAKESPEARE
The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged)

by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor

Published by Hyperion Press (July 2006)

"So what do you need to know about Shakespeare? Just this: The entire Shakespeare industry consists of people simply guessing about who Shakespeare was and what he wrote. Not knowing much about Shakespeare’s life hasn’t stopped everyone from cashing in, filling in the blanks with scholarly supposition when they can, and simply making it up when they can’t. It’s a shocking record, and we’re proud to be part of it."

From the Reduced Shakespeare Company - the theater troupe whose side-splitting production The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was the longest-running comedy in London - comes an openly hysterical, yet surprisingly informative, guide to everything you always wanted to know about Shakespeare - but couldn't be bothered to ask.

Believe it or not, Shakespeare's plays were the summer blockbusters of his day - everyone loved him, from royalty to ragamuffins. Reduced Shakespeare takes Shakespeare off his pedestal and puts the fun back into the work of the greatest playwright the world has ever known - and teaches you something while you're at it!

In one slim volume, Reduced Shakespeare delivers the plays, the life, and the legend in twelve easy pieces. What's the theme of Hamlet? Poop or get off the pot. What's essential preparation for an evening of outdoor Shakespeare? Bring lots of coffee - and use the bathroom before the show. Liberally sprinkled with lists, definitions, quizzes, essential vocabulary, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company's trademark irreverence and wit, this "reduced" handbook will delight enthusiasts, skeptics, and fledgling fans alike.

"Something wickedly funny this way comes!...and wickedly smart, too, as you'd expect from the 'other' RSC. Martin & Tichenor's learned nonsense crackles on the page, much as it does on the stage. They're so deliriously Bard-besotted, even their footnotes cracked me up!" Bob Mondello, National Public Radio

"A very funny book which I enjoyed reading hugely. As the authors themselves say, all you need to know about Shakespeare. My friend Abbey loved it." Simon Russell Beale, Serious Shakespearean Actor

"These two well-measured gentlemen have disported themselves playfully and thoughtfully throughout His Bardship's legacy - I suggest you follow. An essential additional edition of English erudition. Funnier than Shakespeare's comedies, they have dined at the great table of Shakespeareana, and made off with the scraps." Jasper Fforde, Author, The Eyre Affair and Something Rotten

"Finally, you, too, can appear well-read! 'Reduced Shakespeare' is a lightning-fast tour through all the things you should know but know you don’t know about the guy everyone pretends to know. It’s tidbits, it’s knowledge! Cocktail parties, look out!" Laura Krafft, Writer, The Colbert Report