Shakespeare in the Theatre: Reduced Shakespeare Company

(Hardback)

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The first dedicated historical study of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, this book explores the troupes four major Shakespearean works over the past four decades.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company represent an American tale of how a small-scale, open-air troupe have, since their formation in 1981, gradually expanded into a global theatre brand. Specialising in fast-paced, irreverent reductions of prominent topics, their first play, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), has been translated into thirty-eight languages, and ran continuously for nine years in Londons West End.

Each chapter of this book addresses a specific period in the companys history during which their focus was on Shakespearean adaptation. It begins with their origin story up to and beyond 1987s Complete Works, before exploring their audio work in The Reduced Shakespeare Company Radio Show (1994) and the Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast (2006-present). The book then addresses the RSCs Shakespearean renaissance of the 2010s and later, in William Shakespeares Long Lost First Play (abridged) (2018) and The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel) (2023). It concludes with an Epilogue that considers their influence and legacy, presents a blueprint for reduction and contextualises the company within the ecosystem of contemporary performance.

Drawing on previously unexamined archival material, author interviews with the companys five key players and attendance at rehearsals and performances in America and Britain, this book presents the inaugural critical analysis of the RSCs blend of audience interaction, metatheatre, parody, pop culture references, Shakespearean intertextuality and vaudevillian humour.

Author Bio

Ronan Hatfull is Teaching Fellow in Theatre and Performance at the University of Warwick and a Lecturer in Shakespeare at NYU London, UK. He teaches Shakespearean adaptation, Greek tragedy and contemporary performance practices. He co-edited Shakespeare and Biofiction on the Contemporary Stage and Screen (The Arden Shakespeare, 2023) and has published widely on the playwrights cultural legacy. He is also an actor, director, dramaturg and musician.