Review: Reduced Shakespeare Company

Shakespeare wasn’t like this when we learnt it a school!

The Reduced Shakespeare Company came bounding on stage at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds to perform The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) to a packed house.

This cast of just three, takes long and serious subjects, chops them up into little pieces and then puts them back together again. The result… A completely bonkers and incredibly funny take on some of the classics that took us hours to learn, is now performed in minutes!

Tackling all of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies in a little over an hour and a half, this madcap show had the audience enthralled from the beginning. From an interesting and comical biography of the man himself, to a very energetic performance of Hamlet – which included some hilarious audience participation, and touching on all of Shakespeare’s finest, and not so finest works along the way, this show is just brilliant!

The odd mispronunciation of words in some of Shakespeare’s most famous pieces was just hilarious. And, did Shakespeare really predict that we would be using mobile phones?

Brilliantly written and performed, it’s easy to see why this production was London’s longest running comedy, having spent nine years entertaining audiences in the West End.

Thirty-seven plays in just 97 minutes of Shakespearian silliness that had the audience laughing from beginning to end – this fantastic show is one you really don’t want to miss!

The Reduced Shakespeare Company is currently on tour throughout the UK check out their website www.reducedshakespeare.com for details.

Wendy Cook – Ipswich24