A Little Dickens: The Complete Christmas Carol (abridged)
Want to experience all the wonder and joys of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic but only have about ten minutes? You’re in luck!
A Little Dickens: The Complete Christmas Carol (abridged) (complete with 46 second encore) is an audio production written by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, first heard on Public Radio International in 1995, and produced by Connie Blaszczyk, Peter John Marquez, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company.
Free for the whole family!! Or just for you alone!! Just click the Play Triangle below.
From all of us to all of you…Happy Merry Chrismakwanukahhanzukah! (song not included)
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Live Event Sunday July 12, 2020 3pm EST!
Spend an Afternoon with The Remote Shakespeare Company!
A One-Day Only Live Streaming YouTube & Facebook Event
Sunday, July 12, 2020 – Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern/8pm UK
Please join the Reduced Shakespeare Company and Reston Center Stage on Sunday, July 12, 2020 at Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern/5pm UK for a remote live-streaming afternoon of subversive and joyful entertainment: The Reduced Shakespeare Company in An Afternoon with the Remote Shakespeare Company. (CLICK THROUGH FOR LINKS WHERE TO WATCH!)
Q&A with Jennie Maizels, Reed Martin, & Austin Tichenor
The authors of POP-UP SHAKESPEARE! Join Jennie, Reed, and Austin TODAY, June 20, 2020, as they chat about the creation of their “stunning” (Huffington Post) illustrated book Pop-Up Shakespeare. They’ll also take your questions! Find them on the RSC Facebook page here. And the RSC YouTube page here. 11am PST / 1pm CST / 2 Read more…
BLACK LIVES MATTER
We are actors and playwrights more used to making jokes to defuse tension, but these are serious times so we will will be brief: BLACK LIVES MATTER. The Reduced Shakespeare Company stands in support the communities of color who suffer disproportionate levels of violence in this country. Things must change. Read more…
Preeesenting…the Remote Shakespeare Company!
For the time being, please enjoy these epic reductions from the comfort of your own shelter!
THE RING REDUCED!
LOST: REDUCED!
JEOPARDY! TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS!
Click “Read More” for even less!
WATCH THE NEW PROMO VIDEO FOR HAMLET’S BIG ADVENTURE (a prequel)
Get your first taste of the RSC’s 11th stage show Hamlet’s Big Adventure (a prequel) in this new video (shot and edited by the great folks at Lumos Films). Hamlet’s Big Adventure (a prequel) will have its first Reduced Shakespeare Company performances at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, followed by its International Premiere at the Tel Aviv Festival in Israel!
#LongLostShakes Now Published & Available For License
William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged), written by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, has now been published in both the United States by Broadway Play Publishing and Great Britain by Josef Weinberger and is available for licensing worldwide. Read about its creation and “discovery” on the Shakespeare & Beyond Read more…
‘Tis (Still) The Season! New Promo For “Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)” Released
The Reduced Shakespeare Company just unveiled a new promotional video for its annual holiday hit The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged). Produced and edited by Tim Neighbors of Invisible Harness, the short video was shot December 22, 2017 at the La Mirada Center for the Arts in southern California and features performers Michael Faulkner, Reed Martin, and Dan Saski. Watch below — it’ll make your spirits bright!
POP-UP SHAKESPEARE Launches at Shakespeare Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon!
On September 24, 2017, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon hosted illustrator Jennie Maizels and co-author Austin Tichenor at a special event celebrating the publication of their new book Pop-Up Shakespeare. Jennie created wonderful props and costumes for Austin to wear while reading excerpts, and for kids in the audience to Read more…
Announcing Pop-Up Shakespeare!
We’re thrilled to announce the publication of Pop-Up Shakespeare, the fun and interactive book for Shakespeareans of all ages, beautifully illustrated by acclaimed pop-up artist Jennie Maizels with text by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor. Published Fall 2017 by Walker Books (UK/Australia) and Candlewick Press (US), it’s available for pre-order now! Read more…
Dates Announced for UK Tour of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)!
Dates have been announced for the 2017 UK tour of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). Traveling the length and breadth of Great Britain, the tour currently runs from February to May, but more dates are continuing to be added. Click here for the list of venues and links Read more…
‘THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
We traveled a lot in 2016 — China, Qatar, Edinburgh, all across the US — and we barely made it home in time for the holidays. Let our own Austin Tichenor tell you what happened… ‘Twas a night before Christmas, with such snow and rain Not a creature was stirring, including my Read more…
“The Ring Reduced” Now Online!
The Ring Reduced is the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s twenty-two minute reduction of Richard Wagner’s epic sixteen-hour Ring Cycle. Shot and broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4 in 1994, it has now been posted on YouTube by users unknown. (Bonus points if you can spot an actress from Doctor Who and Outlander.) Check it out! Read more…
#LongLostShakes Comes To Edinburgh!
Two gentlemen of Sonoma (plus one) return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the European (for the moment) premiere of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)! This literary “holy grail” (American Theatre) will be at Pleasance Courtyard from August 3-29 (no performances on 10, 17, 24). Don’t miss this “breathlessly irreverent Read more…
A Hoot, a Palpable Hoot!
The world premiere of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) opened April 23-24, 2016 at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and critics and audiences agree: Long Lost Shakes “…is an absolute, resolute, hoot, of a bawdy comedy of errors!” Broadway World “A breathlessly irreverent and pun-filled romp!” Washington Post Whether praising “the lickety-split pacing cheerfully Read more…
Premiering in DC & Coming to Edinburgh – It’s Shakespeare’s Long Lost 1st Play (abridged)!
As part of the international hoopla surrounding the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, the RSC’s tenth stage show William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) is having its world premiere at the prestigious Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. And in August 2016, the RSC will premiere Read more…
81-City UK ‘Comedy’ Tour Continues!
What Would Rambozo Do? He would buy tickets for the last weeks of our 81-city UK tour of The Complete History of Comedy (abridged), where we’ll be hitting the highs and lows of both the subject and the country! Get your tickets now (check out dates and venues here) and remember: Every Read more…
We Made It! We’re in American Theatre!
American Theatre devotes four pages of its December 2014 issue to a “reduced” history of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Featuring interviews with founding members Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, critic Bob Mondello, and managing partners Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, it only manages to cover the RSC’s first decade or so Read more…
We’ve Reduced the History of Art!
To help celebrate its 15th anniversary, the Affordable Art Fair asked the RSC to reduce the entire history of Art down to ten minutes. It’s an impossible task (but that’s never stopped us before) so this week we’re performing The Complete History of Art (abridged) to kick off the Affordable Art Fair Battersea, on Thursday 23 October Read more…
Busy Busy Fall!
In addition to our ongoing UK Tour of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) , and our performances of The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) around the US, we’re excited to make our debut in mainland China with performances of Shakespeare (abridged) at the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, from October 31 to November Read more…
Biggest. RSC Gig. Ever.
Seven different RSC shows in ten days: An event unprecedented in the history of the RSC! Reston Center Stage in Northern Virginia (just outside Washington DC) is hosting a massive celebration we’re calling The Complete Works of the REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY (abridged) Extravaganza. Pick your abridgment – Shakespeare, America, Bible, Read more…
Hoot Mon! RSC Returns to Edinburgh!
Hold On To Your Haggis! (No, that’s not a euphemism.) This summer the RSC returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time in nine years for the European premiere of The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)! The Pleasance One Theatre will be the site of this comic outrage from July 31 to Read more…
Shakes On A Plane!
On-Bard entertainment: RSC Sets Guinness World’s Record Aboard EasyJet
EasyJet, the UK’s largest airline, celebrated the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth (23 April, 2014) with a Guinness World Record performance by the Reduced Shakespeare Company of their reduced Romeo and Juliet from their signature production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). (more…)
THE BIBLE (abridged) UK Tour 2014
Following the sell-out success of their 2013 UK Tour it’s apocalypse now as the three cultural guerrillas of The Reduced Shakespeare Company set their reductive sites on the good book with The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged). (more…)
RSC World Premiere Is A Hit! A Very Palpable Hit!
The critics and the public agree! The World Premiere of The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a monster hit! The Cincinnati Enquirer said, “It’s funny. Really, really funny… And most of all it’s really, really smart… They are exhaustingly hilarious!”
And Cincinnati City Beat said, “A dizzying night’s entertainment! It’s the work of some serious minds exploring the art of comedy… Fresh and funny!” (more…)
A Brand Spanking New RSC World Premiere!
Yes, you read it right! The RSC will unveil its ninth stage show THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF COMEDY (abridged) at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park from November 9 – December 29! From cavemen telling “Rock Rock” jokes to Chris Rock and everything in-between, the bad boys of abridgement leave no joke untold as we deconstruct the entire history of comedy in 90 rollicking minutes. Get tickets now! (more…)
The UK is OK!
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) continues its smash hit UK tour! Buy tickets now before the tourcloses on November 16. If you miss the show on tour you’ll have one last chance to see the show at the Park Theatre in London from December 2-8. And here’s the big announcement: Due Read more…
Shakespeare is in Hong Kong
No, the Bard himself is not in China. But the RSC will be performing the show – The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) October 14-27 at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts. And check this out! The President of Singapore saw the show during its two week Singapore run Read more…
Lakewood Colorado
That’s right – Lakewood Co gets its very own blurb. Why? Because that’s where the RSC has its only scheduled performance of All the Great Books (abridged) for the rest of the year. So if you’re looking for A Little Dickens or a Short Longfellow, then we’ll see you in Colorado on October Read more…
Christmas Schlepping!
We will be touring the RSC holiday classic – The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) – across the USA in December from Galesburg IL to Eau Claire WI to Reston VA. So spread a little holiday cheer (very little) by buying tickets for yourself and your friends! Warning: Although the show is not fattening, it may be habit forming. Read more…
NEWSLETTER ANNOUNCES WEST END + WORLD TOUR!
Watch out, Asia! Including our ongoing 2013 tours of the UK and the US, we’ll be performing five shows in four countries on three continents! All (well, most) is explained in the new issue of the Reduced Reader! Check it out here, and subscribe to it here.
“A Bright, Breezy, and Entertaining Affair!”
That’s how the UK newspaper The Telegraph described the Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast on May 18, 2013, listing it as one of its Top Podcasts. “The Reduced Shakespeare Company has been creating and touring brilliantly funny condensations of huge topics…for over three decades now; and for the last five years or Read more…
![The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]](https://www.reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/banner-shakespeare1.jpg)
Don Your Doublet and Clutch Your Codpiece!
![The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]](http://reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/shakespeare-pic.jpg)
We Bad Boys of Abridgement continue our tour of the UK through August, with our original minimus opus The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised], an irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s plays – all 37 in 97 minutes! Join we madcap men in tights as we weave our wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies in one wild ride that will leave you breathless and helpless with laughter.
“STUPENDOUS, ANCHORLESS JOY!” Times (more…)
Meet the Men in Tights…
![The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]](http://reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/men-in-tights.gif)
The cast traipsing about the UK will consist of a couple of wily RSC veterans and two squirrelly newcomers.
* Aging ingenue Matt Rippy leads the charge, having been a member of the RSC since 1995 and having performed in five Reduced shows in seven countries on five continents, many of them solidly. Audiences who watch television or go to movies will recognize Matt from his below-decks discovery in The Dark Knight and his steamy appearance as the original Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood. (more…)
March Madness! April Absurdity!
After a brief time-out, the Reduced Shakespeare Company take to the field once again with The Complete World of Sports (abridged). Whoop and holler and hurl your hotdog as we attempt to reduce every sport in the history of the world – from archery to wrestling, from basketball to bocce ball, from championship chess to professional ping-pong and everything in between! 3,477.3 sports reduced into one mad dash to the finish line! Impossible! No WAY, you say! YES way, say we! We have been training literally minutes for this! Bring your poms poms to: (more…)
Returning to London
Oh, yes – you read that right! But read it again just to be sure. See?! It’s really true! The show that launched a thousand reductions, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is coming back to the West End in July! Limited engagement at Leicester Square Theatre! 4 weeks Read more…
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) Returns to the UK
![The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]](http://reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/RSC-Shakespeare-A3-1000px.jpg)
Why? asks a bewildered nation. Read on… We were very disturbed by the recent Vision Critical survey that suggests contemporary children have no idea who Shakespeare is and that more than a quarter of adults haven’t read his plays. And as for the final kick in the codpiece that nobody even knows Shakespeare was British? We blame ourselves. (more…)
Bermuda Triangle, Here We Come!
We’re returning to Bermuda this week, performing The Complete World of Sports (abridged) at the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts. Hoping to get in a few rounds of golf and avoid triangles, hexagons, and parallelograms of all kinds.
NOW ON TOUR: Sports (abridged)
View 2013 Tour Dates >
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chrismakwanukkahanzakah!
The Reduced Shakespeare Company is bringing joy to the masses as we tour The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) across America – from Virginia to Alaska and literally four states in between. Check our tour schedule and book early as we are sure to sell out (some say we sold out Read more…
Shakespeare Returns to the UK!
![The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]](http://reducedshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/shakespeare-pic.jpg "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]")
UK National Tour from April 2013! (And yes, this time we mean Scotland, too). We were very disturbed by the recent survey conducted by Vision Critical that suggests contemporary children have no idea who Shakespeare is and that more than a quarter of adults haven’t read his plays. And the final kick in the codpiece that nobody knows Shakespeare was British?! We blame ourselves.
Ever since the three American lads of the Reduced Shakespeare Company concocted The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised], the play has been such a massive global phenomenon that most people quite rightly assume that Shakespeare was American. (We thought so too until very recently.) Shakespeare is the most produced playwright in any language in any country. He’s EVERYWHERE. He’s like the American military or Katy Perry, except with fewer guns or firework-shooting bras.
The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)
“Critic’s Choice!” Boston Globe. “Brought down the house with gales of laughter.” Theatre Mirror. The fruitcakes of the Reduced Shakespeare Company take you on an irreverent yet heartwarming trip through the holidays in The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged). It’s festive funny physical family fun as these Three Wise Guys send-up Read more…
USA Spring Tour Dates
We have temporarily hung up our cleats and are drying out our socks after a winning tour of The Complete World of Sports (abridged) across the US and UK. But we’ll be back! Due to popular demand the Reduced will be going for the gold once again with a series Read more…
Vote Early! Vote Often!
Hear ye! Hear ye! This just in! The Special Election Edition of The Complete History of America (abridged) is coming! The show has been performed at the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center and many other centers not named for dead Presidents. It ran for almost ten years in London. Heck, we’ve even performed it at Read more…
Happy Merry Chrismakwanukkahanzakah!
Ready for some holiday cheer? Don’t miss the first National Tourof The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) coming to Reston VA, Charlotte, Fort Worth, San Diego, St. Louis and Anchorage! Take a look. Last season The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) broke box office records, so buy your tickets early. Don’t miss the show that was a Boston Globe “Critic’s Choice” and Read more…
London 2012
We won the Gold! The comic Gold, that is. The RSC took the UK by storm this summer – take a look. After a five-week tour of the regions, we settled in for an exciting six-week run of The Complete World of Sports (abridged) at the Arts Theatre in London which coincided with the London Olympics. Read more…
RSC RETURNS TO THE UK SUMMER 2012!
The Reduced Shakespeare Company will return to the UK in the summer of 2012, performing a five week tour around the country and culminating in a limited (reduced!) six week season at London’s iconic Arts Theatre.
Manifest Destiny! 2012-13 Tour Dates
We are now booking our 2012-13 North American Tour!
Big Announcement Coming Jan. 9!
We are very excited to announce that, on January 9, we will announce something that we’re very excited to announce! It has to do with our 2012 summer plans…but that’s all we can say. Until January 9. If you have guesses – or suggestions! – leave them in the comments Read more…