RSC RETURNS TO THE UK SUMMER 2012!

The Reduced Shakespeare Company will return to the UK in the summer of 2012, performing a five week tour around the country and culminating in a limited (reduced!) six week season at London’s iconic Arts Theatre.

Timed to coincide with another international sporting event taking place in London this summer, the RSC will present the European premiere of its seventh “fast-moving and deeply funny” (Boston Globe) stage show, The Complete World of Sports (abridged).

“The pacing and timing are crackerjack. It’s hard not to grin all night – give ’em a medal!” Washington Post

Delighted by critics and audiences alike, and starring the show’s creators and original cast, The Complete World of Sports (abridged) is a family-friendly, fast, funny, and physical tour de farce which reduces the entire history of athletic competition to a marathon of madness and mayhem, and along the way answers such questions as:

* Is darts really a sport?
* What does NASCAR stand for?
* Why do Americans insist on calling a contest in which only they compete a “World Series”?
* Who invented wife-carrying, bog-snorkeling, and cheese-rolling?
* And why aren’t they in the Olympics?

Whether it’s the ancient cavemen or the Classical Greeks, the Romans, the Elizabethans, or the modern sports media, The Complete World of Sports (abridged) brings you all the emotion, the drama and the random drug testing of sports.

“This frenetic show leaves you with a new appreciation for just how dull life would be had the idea of athletic competition never been invented.” New York Times

Fresh off a highly successful US tour and hugely popular runs in both New York and Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, the RSC’s five week UK tour begins at the York Theatre Royal, followed by stops in Buxton, Exeter, Newbury, Nottingham, Truro, Poole, Canterbury, Leamington Spa, Derby, Hereford, Rhyl, Barnsley, Salford, Basingstoke, Crawley, Bedford, and Tewkesbury before continuing on to the Arts Theatre in London. Click here for a complete list of dates, venues, and box office information.

The RSC’s return to the Arts Theatre marks a reunion of sorts, as the company performed a year-long run of its signature show The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) there in 1992-1993, before their almost ten year record-breaking three-shows-in-rep run of Shakespeare, The Complete History of America (abridged) and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus from 1996 to 2005.

“The Complete World of Sports (abridged) owes as much to the insanity of Monty Python as to the inanity of actual sports programs.” Boston Globe

The company is thrilled to return to the UK after too long an absence. Let the games begin!

* Listen to creators and stars Reed Martin, Matt Rippy and Austin Tichenor share their excitement on the award-nominated Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast here.
* Watch video excerpts of The Complete World of Sports (abridged) here.
* Like the Reduced Shakespeare Company on Facebook.
* Follow the Reduced Shakespeare Company on Twitter.
* To Buy Tickets for the Arts Theatre, click here.

For more information, please contact Paul Sullivan on 01932 570 582 or 07881 885 253 or by email at [email protected].