600 Years in 6,000 Seconds

The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) comes to Popejoy Hall, bringing with them 600 years of history in 6,000 seconds with The Complete History of America (abridged). Just two days before Election Day they bring their Election Year Special Edition to share their funniest material with us.

The three actors of the RSC will take us through history from George Washington to George W. Bush and from Native people crossing the Bering Straits all the way through Watergate and Vietnam. For the special election edition, surprise “guests” make appearances to answer all of our questions:

• How many Democrats does it take to screw in a light bulb?
• Who will be our next president?
• Who discovered America?

Austin Tichenor, one of the show’s writers describes its reference to the two very well known 15th century explorers, Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci, “Amerigo’s story is told as an operetta, as a domestic battle between him and his wife. She says he does all the work but Columbus gets all the credit.” The RSC tells us about the Civil War with a living slideshow, acting out scenes with poses between the series of blackouts. More of their material is here.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company began doing comedy in 1981 and began performing their first full-length performance—The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)—in 1987. Since then they have developed six feature length shows—all subjects that one would never take on the task of reducing, unless they were part of the RSC. “It’s amazing to me how much variety different directors and actors can bring to the same set of words,” Tichenor said.

Join us in the fun just in time for the 2008 Election on Sunday, November 2 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $43-$28 and are available at UNM Ticket Offices located at the UNM Bookstore, the Pit arena, and select Albertsons locations. Tickets are also available online, or by calling 505-925-5858 or toll free (877) 664-8661.