1981: The Reduced Shakespeare Company begins as a pass-the hat act performing a twenty-minute version of Hamlet at Renaissance Faires outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco where the entertainment slots allow a maximum performance time of thirty minutes. The company develops a fast, funny, and physical performance style to keep their audiences from walking away. It works. Among those in the cast that first summer are the three performers who would come to be considered the "original" RSC - Daniel Singer (whose idea it all was in the first place), Jess Borgeson and Adam Long. Until 1987, the RSC performs only on weekends in the summer months at these faires.

1983: The RSC adds a short Romeo & Juliet to its repertoire at the Renaissance Faires.

1987: The first, one-hour version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (written by Borgeson, Long & Singer) premieres and the company performs it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The company thinks that this will be its swan song. Instead, interest in the RSC begins to snowball.

1988: The RSC begins to tour the United States. In order to make Shakespeare a full-length show, audience participation is added in the second act.

1989: The company tours the U.S. and performs at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and in Melbourne, Australia. Singer leaves the company to become an Imagineer for Disney and is replaced by Reed Martin, a UC Berkeley classmate of Borgeson and former Ringling Brothers clown. Martin contributes additional material to Shakespeare.

1991: With a six-week sold out season at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal, the RSC becomes a full-time gig, as the boys finally quit their day jobs. They now make a living with the RSC, but just barely. It only took ten years.

The company's first British tour, and its first London season - a December run at the Lillian Bayliss Theatre.

1991: The company tours to Tokyo and Ireland, as well as Britain and the U.S. They make their New York debut as part of the New York International Festival of the Arts.

1992: The RSC tours the U.S. and Singapore, as well as Perth and Adelaide, Australia. In March, the boys open their second season in London, this time at the Arts Theatre. The show runs eleven months. The boys provide voices for Steven Spielberg's animated film Balto.

Borgeson leaves the company and is replaced by Austin Tichenor, another UC Berkeley grad and classmate of Borgeson and Martin. Because he wears glasses, critics dub Tichenor "the smart one."

1993: The RSC premieres its second stage show - The Complete History of America (abridged) (written by Long, Martin, and Tichenor). They perform America at Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival, the American Repertory Theatre, and the Serious Fun Festival at Lincoln Center in New York. Tours of the U.S., Britain, and Israel.

The boys (Long/Martin/Tichenor) write and perform The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show - a six-part radio series for the BBC World Service. Nick Graham writes the music. It's released as a double-cassette on the Laughing Stock label.

1994: The company performs for eight sold-out weeks at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and also tours the U.S., Great Britain, and New Zealand. The boys become regular contributors to National Public Radio's All Things Considered, comically reducing news events.

Long cuts back on touring to stay in Britain with his English wife and English baby. Matt Croke - a former Ringling Brothers clownmate of Martin - steps into Long's role.

The RSC writes and performs its first TV show - The Ring Reduced (Long / Martin / Tichenor) - a thirty-minute condensation of Wagner's Ring Cycle for Britain's Channel Four.

1995: The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) (Long / Martin / Tichenor, additional material by Croke) premieres in July at the Kennedy Center. Bible and America run at the Kennedy Center for twelve sold-out weeks.

Long / Martin / Tichenor write - and with Croke perform - The Reduced Shakespeare Company Christmas, which is broadcast nationally in the U.S. on Public Radio International. It is also released as a CD.

The company breaks box office records at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre with a six-week run of America and Bible in repertory.

Long heads up a second company, specifically to perform in Great Britain. The new RSC U.K. undertakes a year-long British tour of Shakespeare and America.

1996: Bible is nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play. The RSC tours the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The RSC performs Bible in Jerusalem. Bible has its U.K. premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

In March the RSC U.K. opens at the Criterion Theatre in London performing Shakespeare and America in rep.

The script of Shakespeare is published in the U.S. by Applause Books. It is performed by countless professional and amateur companies all over the world, and translated into sixteen languages.

1997: Shakespeare is nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy - seventeen years after its inception. Bible opens for a limited run in London at the Gielgud Theatre in August. The RSC has three shows running in the West End at the same time - only one fewer than Andrew Lloyd Webber. An audio adaptation of Bible is released on cassette on the Magmaster label.

The RSC tours the U.S., including two-weeks at the Long Wharf Theatre. The company performs in Japan for the third time.

1998: The Reduced Shakespeare Company premieres its newest stage show The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged). It's written by Martin and Tichenor, who reunite with composer Graham. Croke takes a break from touring and is replaced by Dee Ryan, a Second City alumna and theatre colleague of Tichenor's. She contributes additional material to Millennium. The RSC finally has a "female" point of view. Unfortunately, it's Reed's.

Recordings of Radio Show and Christmas are released in the U.S. on the Audio Editions label. Bible is translated into German, Spanish, and Portugese.

1999: The company tours MILLENNIUM to the Kennedy Center for seven weeks and breaks box office records in their six week run at Seattle Repertory Theatre. A second cast tours MILLENNIUM in the UK for twelve months, while yet a third cast tours Australia. The original cast album of MILLENNIUM is released on the Laughing Stock label. The AMERICA (abridged) script is published by Broadway Play Publishing.

2000: Greatest Story Ever Sold, written by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor is published by Westminster/John Knox Press. MILLENNIUM tours to Israel. The BIBLE (abridged) script is published by Broadway Play Publishing.

2001: PBS airs the TV special Reduced Shakespeare. The company has a four-week sold-out run at the Kennedy Center, where Matt Rippy is nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Performance In A Touring Show. Austin and Reed don't speak to him for three weeks. The RSC also returns to the Pittsburgh Public Theater for the third time to perform SHAKESPEARE & BIBLE. The boys perform AMERICA (abridged) at Invisible Theater Company in Tucson, AZ and tour Ireland for twelve weeks with BIBLE (abridged). BIBLE begins a year-long tour of Britain.

2002: The RSC premieres its fifth stage show – All the Great Books (abridged). The show is developed at bang.studios in Los Angeles, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Bible becomes the best selling show in the history of Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Millennium script is published under the new title Western Civilization! The Complete Musical (abridged). The boys close out the year performing Books and Bible at Pittsburgh Public Theater.

2003: Bible joins Shakespeare and America in rotating repertory at the Criterion Theatre in London. Once again, the RSC has more shows running in London than Andrew Lloyd Webber. The company takes Books to the Kennedy Center, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, ACT Seattle, San Diego Repertory Theatre, and The Invisible Theatre in Tucson. Books also begins a year-long tour of Great Britain. Bible is released on CD. The Reduced Shakespeare PBS special is released on DVD. For the fifth time, the company closes at the year at Pittsburgh Public Theater – this time performing America and Bible.

2004: The boys open the year with a successful run of Books (abridged) at the Cowell Theatre in San Francisco. The Reduced Shakespeare Company Radio Show is released on CD in the U.S. by Uproar Records and in the UK by Laughing Stock. The RSC closes out the year taking America (abridged) to Lowell, MA and breaks its own record – America and Bible are the two best-selling shows in Merrimack Rep history.

2005: The Complete History of America (abridged), is filmed and distributed by PLD. The company performs at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany NY, the Pittsburgh Public Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and tours the U.S., Holland and Barbados. A brand new show, Completely Hollywood (abridged), begins a year-long tour of Great Britain at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

2006: Reduced Shakespeare, the first in a series of Reduced Books, is published by Hyperion. The RSC spends the month of July performing All the Great Books (abridged) and The Complete History of America (abridged) at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The company once again tours the U.S., U.K. and Holland, Completely Hollywood (abridged) has its official American premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. The company once again has three companies on the road as it tours the U.S., U.K. and Holland and also has extended runs at Buffalo Studio Arena Theatre and Merrimack Repertory Theatre.

2007: The RSC begins its weekly twenty-minute podcasts and is nominated for two Podcast Awards for Best Production and Culture/Arts. HOLLYWOOD and BIBLE run in rotating repertory for extended runs in both Chicago and San Francisco. BIBLE also has a successful month-long run at San Diego Repertory Theatre. BOOKS and AMERICA run in for a month at Center Repertory Theatre in California. BOOKS tours Ireland for the first time. The RSC MySpace page in unveiled. AMERICA and BIBLE are published in the UK by Josef Weinberger. The company returns to Barbados, this time with HOLLYWOOD - which also tours all across the USA. The guys film a television pilot for TBS called The Week Reduced.

2008: HOLLYWOOD tours to Belgium and Holland. The boys return to the Blumenthal Center in Charlotte, NC for the third straight year. The RSC performs AMERICA and BIBLE at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC for five weeks. ALL THE GREAT BOOKS (abridged) is published in the UK by Josef Weinberger. BOOKS runs for a month at San Jose Repertory Theatre in California. The RSC returns to the UK with national tour of BIBLE. To coincide with the Presidential election, the company tours a "Special Election Edition" of AMERICA across the USA.

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