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Reduced Shakespeare Company~ Brevity is the soul of wit. ~
  • Home
  • Tours
  • Productions
    • Hamlet’s Big Adventure! (a prequel)
    • William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)
    • The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)
    • The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)
    • The Complete World of Sports (abridged)
    • All The Great Books (abridged)
    • Completely Hollywood (abridged)
    • Western Civilization: The Complete Musical (abridged)
    • The Bible (abridged)
    • The Complete History of America (abridged)
    • The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]
  • Podcasts
    • How to Subscribe
  • News
    • Reader
      • Subscribe
      • Unsubscribe
      • Reader Archive
  • Books
    • Pop-up Shakespeare
    • How The Bible Changed Our Lives (Mostly For The Better)
    • Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged)
  • About Us
    • Cast and Crew
    • Complete Timeline
    • RSC Trivia
    • RSC Alumni
    • Places We’ve Played
    • TV, Audio and more
  • Contact Us
  • Venue Login

Pop-up Shakespeare

Illustrated by Jennie Maizels
Text by Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor

(Hardcover; Walker Books & Candlewick Press; all ages)

“Pop up perfection!”
The Guardian Christmas Gift Guide

“It’s hard to imagine a more entertaining way to get a sense of what these classics are about!”
Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
(Read the whole review here
)

“A fastbreak literary tour…concise and hilarious!”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
(Read the whole review here)

“Wondrous! Buy it for yourself and pretend it’s for the kids…”
Shakespeare Magazine (see full tweet below)

Buy it from Bookshop right now!

“An absolute treat that serves as an accurate if often irreverent introduction to the Bard. Plenty of insights alongside the laughs. An ideal gift book!”
The Irish Times (read the whole review here)

“Just, wow…I really can’t speak highly enough of this amazing book. It is so well thought out, so well designed and an absolutely perfect way to introduce Shakespeare to younger audiences.”
Kids’ Book Review (Australia) (read the whole review here)

“Take[s] conciseness to a hilarious–but always respectfully accurate–new dimension.”
Folger Magazine 

“Stunning! Brings Shakespeare to life in a way we don’t experience with the plays!”
Huffington Post (read the whole review here)

“Adults Won’t Want To Share [This] With Their Kids!”
Buzzfeed headline (read the whole article here) 

Order from Amazon (UK) here!

Order from Amazon (US) here!

Find online alternatives to Amazon in the US here and in the UK here!

Discover all 39 of Shakespeare’s magnificent plays within artist Jennie Maizels‘ playful cartooning and delightful pop-up castles, forests, and tempests!

The Comedies!
The Histories!

The Tragedies!
The Romances (including the Sonnets)!

 

“The Reduced Shakespeare Company offers a delightfully irreverent tour of [Shakespeare’s] work!”
Publisher’s Weekly (Did we mention it was a starred review?)

“Quite entertaining, even if it is not a long lost Shakespeare play!”
Michael Witmore, Director, Folger Shakespeare Library 

“A-MAZING! A huge bit of joy for a Shakespeare nerd like myself. So good.”
Samuel Taylor, author of 
My Life with the Shakespeare Cult and co-founder of Chicago’s Back Room Shakespeare Project

 

Reed, Austin, & Jennie talk about creating the book & answer questions (filmed June 20, 2020)

Authors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor tell you all about it (filmed April 23rd, Shakespeare’s birthday, 2017)!

Flip through the pages of POP-UP SHAKESPEARE with artist Jennie Maizels!

 

“Minutes of fun!”
Howard Sherman, The Stage (UK)

“The Bard’s complete works as they’ve never been seen before. A spectacular novelty book crammed with jokes, facts, pop-ups and lift-the-flaps.”
The Bookseller

“Highly recommend! Tons of jokes, facts, and gorgeous illustrations!”
Ken Ludwig, author of Lend Me A Tenor, Crazy For You, and How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare

New book by my pal @austintichenor of @Reduced. Highly recommend! All 39 plays, tons of jokes, facts & gorgeous illustrations. On sale 10/3. pic.twitter.com/cZJZL9f7f3

— Ken Ludwig (@ken_ludwig) September 1, 2017

 

Hear artist Jennie Maizels talk about the creation of the book here on the RSC Podcast!
http://reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/541.-Pop-Up-Shakespeare-Book.mp3

 

Hear authors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor talk about writing the book here!
http://www.reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/542.-Writing-Pop-Up-Shakespeare.mp3

 

Hear Walker Books’ Daisy Jellicoe talk about editing the book here!
http://www.reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/543.-Editing-Pop-Up-Shakespeare.mp3

 

“My new favorite picture book. A must-read for Shakespeare kids of all ages…the pop-up art alone is AMAZING.”
Nicole Galland, author of I, Iago and (with Neal Stephenson) The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

POP-UP SHAKESPEARE by the @The Reduced Shakespeare Company…My new favorite picture book. A must-read for… https://t.co/hKmLj9wxD7

— (((Nicole Galland))) (@nicolegalland) September 11, 2017

Order from Amazon (UK) here!

Order from Amazon (US) here!

Find online alternatives to Amazon in the US here and in the UK here!

Read Publishers’s Weekly’s starred review here!

Read Kirkus Review’s starred review here!

It’s a wonderful teaching tool!

Meet Nancy, our favorite new member of the other *other* RSC, the Robinson Shakespeare Company @RCLC_Shakes, striking her best Hamlet pose with her favorite #popupshakespeare! ❤️? pic.twitter.com/fNCHTM2UfJ

— Reduced Shakespeare Company (@reduced) March 14, 2019

“Concise, funny, & foldy. Reduced once again gives good Bard.”
Mike McShane, actor/improviser, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

It makes Shakespeare concise,funny & foldy. Reduced once again gives good Bard. https://t.co/z5oA2ovdlO

— Mike McShane (@thismikemcshane) September 7, 2017

“My kids so enjoyed Pop-Up Shakespeare! Oh, who am I kidding? I haven’t let them near it.”
Louis Bayard, author of Mr. Timothy, Lucky Strikes, and the New York Times obituary for William Shakespeare

My kids so enjoyed POP-UP SHAKESPEARE by @reduced! Oh, who am I kidding? I haven't let them near it. https://t.co/YkuSWL1qZy

— Louis Bayard (@LouisBayard) September 13, 2017

“Five stars! Humorous and cheeky… (it) breaks stereotypes of how Shakespeare should be learned or experienced.”
Play Shakespeare
(Read the whole review here!)

“We love this inspired new pop-up book!”
Shakespeare Week

“Finally, the correct format for Shakespeare scholarly discussion. Accessible, funny, illuminating – a fantastic introduction to the Bard’s work.”
Jasper Fforde, author of The Eyre Affair, Something Rotten, and The Last Dragonslayer

The wondrous @WalkerBooksUK Pop-Up Shakespeare book, by Reed & Austin of @reduced with art by Jennie Maizels. [Whisper: "Buy it for yourself & pretend it's for the kids…"] https://t.co/KCunujAxYh pic.twitter.com/tG6jMcRPwA

— Shakespeare Magazine (@UKShakespeare) January 6, 2018

Yes @reduced @austintichenor @ReedofRSC @jenniemaizels – I really am this excited that this arrived. What a FANTASTIC book. Thank you all for this treat. pic.twitter.com/WrHP5GCw1O

— Gary Andrews (@GaryScribbler) February 11, 2018

Parents are weighing in too!

@jeffmarlow Thank you so very much for this delightful book. As you can see it’s been put to use already. Shakespeare’s alive and well. “ Is that William Shakespeare Daddy?” pic.twitter.com/oBIxEVzkDL

— Anthony Mark Barrow (@AntoniousMarcus) June 12, 2018

Excited that @reduced Pop-Up Shakespeare has arrived! Thanks @ReedofRSC + @austintichenor 4 giving me way 2 share #TheBard with my daughter! pic.twitter.com/DPyS0taDkv

— Dave Zlatic (@BowTieDave) October 10, 2017

Shakespeare's newest fan, thanks to @austintichenor @reduced @ReedofRSC @jenniemaizels… nice work, this is an amazing book! pic.twitter.com/xaFR9WHCgX

— Rob Nickerson (@rnick1976) October 4, 2017

The boys love @reduced’s new book POP-UP SHAKESPEARE! Thanks @austintichenor! #ShakespeareForKids #ShakesLove #BabyShakes pic.twitter.com/44Mp96jGQW

— Lauren Gunderson (@LalaTellsAStory) November 19, 2017

(Lauren Gunderson is the author of The Book of Will, a comedy about the creation of Shakespeare’s First Folio, and the most-produced playwright in America in 2017-2018!)

If you have a picture of you and/or your child enjoying Pop-Up Shakespeare, tweet it to us @reduced and we’ll post it here!

POP-UP SHAKESPEARE. Text copyright © 2017 by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor. Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Jennie Maizels. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA, on behalf of Walker Books London.
  • © 2020 Reduced Shakespeare Company ® | Fuelled by GingerPower

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