Reduced Shakespeare Company

The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a touring American acting troupe that performs fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of huge topics. The company's style has been described as "New Vaudeville," combining both physical and verbal humor, as well as highbrow and lowbrow. Known as the "Bad Boys of Abridgment," the RSC has created nine stage shows: "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" in 1987, "The Complete History of America (abridged)" in 1992, "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)" in 1995, "The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged)" in 1998, "All the Great Books (abridged)" in 2002, "Completely Hollywood (abridged)" in 2005, "The Complete World of Sports (abridged)" in 2010, "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" in 2011 and "The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)" in 2013. The company tours most frequently across the U.S. and Great Britain, and it has also performed in Belgium, Holland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Barbados, Bermuda, Israel, and Ireland. The Reduced Shakespeare Company is heard frequently on both NPR and the BBC.

Shakespeare and Company

Shakespeare and Company or Shakespeare & Company may refer to:

Shakespeare & Company (Massachusetts)

Shakespeare & Company is an American theatre company located in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire region of western Massachusetts. It was founded in 1978 by artistic director Tina Packer, who stepped down in 2009. Tony Simotes is the current artistic director. A co-founder was Kristin Linklater, who developed the Linklater vocal technique and left the company in the mid-1990s. The company performs Shakespeare and new plays of "social and political significance", reaching over 75,000 patrons annually, and it conducts training programs for professional classical actors as well as education programs for elementary through high school students, the latter reaching over 50,000 students annually.

From 1978 to 2001, Shakespeare & Company was based at The Mount, Edith Wharton's historic property in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Shakespeare & Company is listed as a major festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.

Shakespeare & Company (Minnesota)

Shakespeare & Company is Minnesota's longest-running and only permanent outdoor classical repertory theatre. Their goal is to provide an environment where families can come and enjoy an informal picnic atmosphere and see performances of plays by William Shakespeare and other classical playwrights. The presentation is informal, an attempt to recreate the vitality and excitement of the Elizabethan theatre. Each summer the company presents three shows in repertory at the Outdoor Theatre Complex on the West Campus of Century College, located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, just north of the twin cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

A typical Shakespearean production runs 2 ½ to 3 hours. Shakespeare & Company productions are carefully edited to run 70–120 minutes to accommodate audiences in an outdoor setting. While the Guthrie Theater is known for its classical Shakespeare, this company is known for its approachable Shakespeare. Families in the St. Croix Valley and suburban Ramsey County find a delightful setting for a picnic, and the opportunity to bring children and not worry about "shushing" them. Often Shakespeare is thought of as set apart or inaccessible to modern day viewers. Instead, the audience's understanding is greatly enhanced by judicious editing, the use of physicality, and program notes that describe both plot and interpretation. The repertory format itself provides another type of access. Minnesota summers are short, and so is the season for outdoor theatre. The scheduling of performances in a repertory configuration provides the opportunity to see more than one production in a given weekend.