To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the Bard’s works are being performed all year long across China. Last month, the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company passed through on its inaugural China tour. But on an entirely different end of the theatrical spectrum, the Reduced Shakespeare Company is bringing its hit show, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) to Beijing (Nov 25-26 @ Beijing Tianqiao Performance Art Center) and Shanghai (Dec 2-3 @ Huangpu Theater).
Company members Reed Martin, Austin Tichenor and Dan Saski star as exaggerated versions of themselves – three actors attempting to pack all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays (and all his sonnets) into a single performance. The result is intentionally disastrous.
“It started as a pass-the-hat performance of Hamlet at renaissance fairs across California, so the style was fast, funny and physical to keep people until the end of the show so they would put money into the hat,” Martin explains.
The concept evolved through the 1980s. Then, following its 1987 debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) became a bonafide hit which would enjoy a nine-year run in London’s West End.
“Scholars and neophytes like that we’re making fun of Shakespeare and taking him off his pedestal ever so slightly,” Tichenor says. “What’s wonderful about Shakespeare as a subject matter is that he’s universally beloved but also hated in equal measure.
“We all come to Shakespeare in a similar way – we love him, but are intimidated by him. We want to see more of him, but we don’t to work that hard to understand all the language. We mostly want to try to understand the stories being told and have a good time. That’s true all over the world.”
The high-energy performances – and the use of local references and jokes – ensure that no performance of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) is an intimidating Shakespearean experience. Audience members are called up to participate, before the show famously concludes with a ‘fast, faster, backwards’ rendition of Hamlet.
While Main and Tichenor admit to their share of mistakes during this closing section, they agree that the slips can become part of the show.
“One of the joys of live theater is that the performers are on stage doing it live right there for you,” Tichenor says. “The audience understands this, and they love to see the mistakes. It makes the evening unique and special. Often it’s a lot of fun when we get it wrong.”
The group’s upcoming four-city China tour caps off a busy year that included April’s premier of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged) at the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington DC.
“The reviews were great and audiences walked out strangely moved and satisfied,” Tichenor says. “I say that because The Complete Works ends famously with Hamlet. William Shakespeare’s First Play ends with three surprisingly moving and maybe, serious, monologues. Not at all what you expect from a comedy show and the Reduced Shakespeare Company.”
While they plan to “drink a lot of beer” following their third China visit in two years, the Reduced Shakespeare Company members are optimistic that they’ll return with more shows in the future.
Tichenor admits that part of the company’s enduring appeal is the fact it “does Shakespeare the way people think Americans would do it: loud, fast and funny.”
“[When we perform] in England, part of the joke is that there are three Americans who think they can do Shakespeare,” Martin adds. “Our characters are like what the English think Americans are – sort of dumb and with short attention spans. And we’re laughing… all the way to the bank!”
Beijing: Nov 25-26, 7.30pm (with 2.30pm show on Sat), RMB99-480. Beijing Tianqiao Performance Art Center (Lyric Theatre).
Shanghai: Dec 2-3, 7.30pm (with 2.30pm show on Sat), RMB50-500. Huangpu Theater, 780 Nanjing Dong Lu, by Guangxi Bei Lu 南京东路780号, 近广西北路
0 User Comments