THE REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
The Bible: The Complete Word Of God (abridged).

As you know, The Bible is quite a long book, so it required huge energy to tell the greatest story ever told in two forty-five minutes sections (one each for the Old and New Testament). Highlights included a brilliant scene of The Last Supper, three wise men who don’t believe their horoscopes (carrying a prop of an A-Z of Bethlehem!), a slight revision of The Ten Commandments and confusion at The Tower Of Babel

The cast effortlessly slipped from character to character whilst at the same time somehow maintaining their roles as modern day questioners of theology. Their explanation of the roots of that word is interesting too.

The Daily Mail has described this cast as "three lads in a league of their own when it comes to vivid originality", praise that was justified by one of the neatest ad libs I have heard in a theatre. Whilst the cast was talking about Jesus, one of the props, (a classroom easel, don’t ask) collapsed. Timing his delivery perfectly with the eventual subsidence of the ensuing laughter one character moved front stage and addressed the audience: - "What we need is a bloody good carpenter!"
The humour and delivery are much like the God the script invites us to consider. It is benevolent, gentle, wise, ferocious and unforgiving, depending upon how you receive it. And that seems to me the point of the play really.

The rapid-fire one liners, the slapstick humour and what The Daily Mail describe as "sublime moments of surreal theatricality" make this an unforgettable performance. Like all the best humour, though, it makes some pretty serious points.

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