The Reduced Shakespeare Company Tackles Sports
Show spoofs everything from football to curling
Sports lovers and haters can laugh together Saturday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Hansen Theatre, when The Reduced Shakespeare Company presents its farcical take on sports – The Complete World of Sports (abridged). The three-man comedy troupe is famous for reduced presentations of Shakespeare’s plays, the history of America, great literature and, in this show, athletic competition, from the earliest cavemen playing “Neanderthal in the Middle” to kid’s soccer practice.
The three actors in the troupe call themselves the “Bad Boys of Abridgement,” and have created seven stage shows, two television specials, “several failed TV pilots,” and numerous radio pieces – all of which have been performed, seen, and heard the world over.
The company began in 1981 as a pass-the-hat act in California. Since then, their itinerary has included stops at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s West End, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre and Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival, as well as performances in Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Malta, Belgium, The Netherlands, Singapore and Bermuda – plus countless civic and university venues throughout the USA, Great Britain and Ireland. The company’s first three shows, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged) and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) ran for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. They were London’s longest-running comedies, and the RSC had more shows running in the West End than Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The Complete World of Sports (abridged) is an audience-interactive, family-friendly show for all ages, “blending slapstick, sight gags, hernia-inducing puns, and genuine verbal wit” (Boston Globe) and has been featured in both ESPN and American Theatre magazines.
While in the community, the group will also lead a clowning workshop the same day (March 23) at 1 p.m. in Hansen Theatre for high school and college theatre students. The workshop is also open to the public. Interested participants must contact Series Director, Rebecca Sundet-Schoenwald to register for the workshop at 218.477.2178 or email her at sundetre@mnstate.edu.
To purchase tickets to the Saturday performance, go to www.mnstate.edu/perform or call the MSUM Box Office at 218.477.2271 Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $28 for adults, $24 for seniors and $12 for students with student ID. Tickets are also available at the door if still available. Hansen Theatre is located in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts on the MSUM campus.