The Reduced Shakespeare Company presents the literary Holy Grail – William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). Pictured (l to r): Reed Martin, Teddy Spencer, Austin Tichenor. Photo courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Going to the Folger to see a play is magic… yadda yadda yada.
Let’s start that thought again: Going to the Folger with two 10-year olds to see 90 minutes where you can barely breathe you’re laughing so hard? That is where the true magic is. Last weekend, I got to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s “William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged)” in such good company. Magic is seeing two young boys –excited to take in the beautiful Folger stage and feeling like grown-ups – laughing so hard they clutch their bellies while the performers cavort, gallivant, rhapsodize, eulogize, and, uh, “flatulize” loudly onstage. The hours of preparation and invention and rehearsal that must have gone into carrying such a delightful and muscular show to fruition must far surpass the 100 hours it would have taken to stage the, ahem, “unabridged” version of all of Shakespeare’s plays.
The genius of imagination is let loose in this tight and fast-paced presentation. From the very beginning, when the actors gently but firmly ribbed the late-comers (“Give it up for the people who thought the play started at 2:30!”), the laughs only paused long enough to hear the next hilarious line. The seamless interlacing of popular culture references, both high-brow and low-brow, and the regional nods – DC references may be like shooting fish in a barrel, but we all love being in on the joke– made the time go by way too fast. The fact that two 10-year olds were able to keep pace with the melée and the confusion –even if not totally conversant with the Bard’s plays– speaks to the hard work of bringing already impressive and relatable works of art, Shakespeare’s plays, to all audiences, distilling their essence and maximizing the laughs while making it all look easy.
You only have a few performances left to enjoy this gem –the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s tenth staged play. Details:
What: William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged)
Where: Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street
When: Through this Sunday, May 8, 2016
For tickets, click this link: http://events.folger.edu/Default.aspx
You can also call the box office at (202) 544-7077 from 12-8 p.m.
(Tell them we sent you!)