Podcasts about Reduced Shakespeare Company

Actor, improviser, and founding member of Upright Citizens Brigade Matt Walsh (Veep, Manhunt) is touring this summer with Bluebird Improv and returns to the RSC Podcast to discuss how improv differs from acting (and sometimes doesn't). Matt reveals how improv is less about creation and more about discovery; the importance of and method for learning the value of patience; how he combined both acting and improv on Veep; why scripted punchlines are sometimes not as funny as improvised punchlines; the challenge of playing a racist monster in Manhunt; and (to unintentionally paraphrase Austin Powers) the importance of remembering that when onstage, just behave. (Length 27:46) The post Improv Is Magic appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Host Austin Tichenor returns to Chicago's Back Room Shakespeare Project to perform in their production of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus on June 16, 2025 at the Hideout, and he discusses with the show's captain and first mate Sam Pearson and Gage Wallace how this cast and crew came together to embody the Project's ethos of "Serious actors. No director. One rehearsal. In a bar." Building on co-founder Samuel Taylor's notion these productions are "bad ideas," Gage and Sam reveal the core values that guide every Project production; how modern bars most resemble Shakespeare's original rowdy playhouses; how "youthful arrogance" is just another word for "incredible generosity;" and how audiences continue to flock to BRSP productions because they know their presence is not simply important, it's required. (Length 20:20) (Logo art by Collin Quinn Rice.) The post Preparing For Coriolanus appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Actor, author, and comedian Jon Glaser (Parks and Recreation, Delocated, Inside Amy Schumer, Neon Joe Werewolf Hunter) is turning his recent comedy album Jon Glaser's Soothing Meditations for the Solitary Dog into a live show that combines interactive artwork with storytelling, silly comedy, and support for shelters and organizations that care for pets and their owners. Jon reveals his desire to find an outlet for passion projects that are stupid but also do great work; how the project is evolving and reaching new people; how his new Instagram page highlights portraits created at his "VIP Sip & Paint" live events; and how meditations designed for dogs can help soothe our own very real anger and existential despair. (Length 17:37) The post Glaser's Dog Meditations appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Beth Wolf, the founding producing artistic director of Midsommer Flight, discusses her company's upcoming production of Love's Labour's Lost, which has been performing for free in parks throughout Chicago since 2012. Beth reveals the planning that goes into her season; why Love's Labour's is such an important comedy right now; how for some reason outdoor summer Shakespeare is not everybody's jam; her invaluable partnership with the Chicago Park District; the value of having a non-dogmatic approach to the text; the importance of theatre people being able to wear multiple hats; and how Midsommer Flight is a valuable stepping stone for early-career actors on the rise. (Length 19:53) The post Midsommer Flight Dream appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor – the cast of the film version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) – reminisce about the 2000 filming of the RSC's signature work, and discuss the extraordinary lengths the production went to ensure they were jet-lagged for the entire process. Revelations include the secret cameo from co-author and RSC founding member Daniel Singer; how different actors must play jokes differently; the Spinal Tap observation that relative size is the difference between funny and scary; how to make friends in British and Irish pubs; and how the RSC vibe might best be described as squabbling siblings bound together in a brotherhood of Shakespeare. (Length 21:33) (PICTURED: Reed Martin, Adam Long, and Austin Tichenor enjoying post-show beverages in Shuttleworth's Pub, Charing Cross Road, 1992. Photo by Kent Tichenor.) The post Filming ‘Complete Works' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell (MA) just announced its exciting 2025-2026 season and artistic director Courtney Sale discusses how she embraces both MRT's working-class roots and its commitment to the growing diversity of Lowell's population. Sale reveals her programming philosophy, which admirably veers away from the head and towards the heart; her investment in a world premiere from the self-described “Khmer Kerouac”; her fondness for theater that flatters the intellect and the imagination; how she owns MRT's identity as a “beer and pizza” theatre; and her appealing commitment to the 4 Cs: commissions, community, comedy, and catharsis. (Length 18:02) The post Courtney Sale's MRT appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Christopher Moore's new novel Anima Rising combines his signature elements – complicated artists, suspicious detectives, a bawdy sisterhood, and supernatural bonking – into a strangely moving tale of friendship and survival. Set in 1911 Vienna, Chris's new novel is a spiritual sequel to his 2012 art world masterpiece Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art and, in anticipation of his upcoming book tour, Chris reveals how his fondness for Gustav Klimt and Mary Shelley drives this unlikely comic adventure; how both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung had to figure into the story (because: 1911 Vienna); and how his novels are becoming increasingly touching...or at least that's how they're being read. (Length 21:17) The post 961. Christopher Moore's Frankenstein appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Playwrights and RSC artistic directors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor discuss the updates they've been making to all their scripts (including All the Great Books (abridged), featuring Doug Harvey, Tré Zijuan Tyler, and Michael Faulkner, below) and how their writing process begins with coming up with material that's personal resonant. Martin and Tichenor reveal the despair of artists listening to the mortgage when evaluating their work; how not all laughs are created equal; how the great job of making people laugh now feels like an supremely important job; and how hearing the audience gasp at the turns in the narrative is even more satisfying to us. (Length 24:21) The post Funny To Us appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.   You can find Holly Gramazio at her website https://www.hollygramazio.net/ or on IG at holly_gramazio   When we first heard the premise of Holly Gramazio's novel The Husbands, we were intrigued. A woman's husband goes up to the attic to retrieve something and down comes…a different husband. Wouldn't we all sometimes like to exchange the husband we have for a better, newer, or just different model? Holly turned this idea into a novel that is both funny and thoughtfully considered. It may not, in fact, be such a great thing to have an endless supply of potential husbands so easy to exchange.  Her book has been optioned by Apple Plus for a limited series and I just saw that Juno Temple, the actress who played Keeley in the Ted Lasso series, is slated to play the starring role.   And because it is April, and April is National Poetry Month, we're discussing books related to poets. Not everyone loves poetry, but these books aren't actually poetry–so you can still partake of poetry month. They are historical fiction, memoirs, essays, and children's books written by or inspired by poets.    Books Mentioned in This Episode:   1- The Husbands by Holly Gramazio   2- Lakewood by Megan Giddings   3- I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys by Miranda Seymour   4- Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys     5- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte     6- The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay     7- Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovett     8- Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin     9-  A Five Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover  Chelsea @2_girls_bookin_it - The Endless Fall by Emmerson Hoyt     10- The Swan's Nest by Laura Mcneal     11- You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith     12- Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethaway     13- Emily's House by Amy Belding Brown     14- Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome     15- Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil     16- World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil     17- The Poet's Dog by Patricia McLachlan     Media mentioned-- 1- Severance (Apple+, 2022 - Present)   2- Reduced Shakespeare Company--https://www.reducedshakespeare.com   3- Saint X (Hulu, 2023)      

409 years ago today, on April 22, 1616, William Shakespeare himself spoke to Tony Dean, the creator and host of the Calling History Podcast, which features conversations with history's most influential and interesting people. Tony explains how the podcast got started, how he finds his guests (including Austin Tichenor as Shakespeare), how Ralph Waldo Emerson remains the podcast's great white whale, and how the Calling History Podcast is filled with unbelievable but absolutely true stories. HEAR HERE! (You can listen to part one of Tony's conversation with Shakespeare here and part two here.) Length 19:50. The post William Shakespeare Speaks! appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Do you not "get" Shakespeare? Well, you're not alone! Improviser and "ensemble whisperer" Liz Allen returns to the podcast to explore the reasons she's never really connected with Shakespeare's plays. Allen famously coached the fictional improv team in Mike Birbiglia's film Don't Think Twice but fears missing out on both cultural and satirical opportunities, and discusses with host Austin Tichenor the ways in which she (and many others) have missed the Shakespeare boat; how to describe the appeal of Shakespeare in five words; the value of “Tools, Not Rules;” drawing inspiration from Darren Freebury-Jones's Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers; how being haughty at dinner parties is the real goal; and the very real relationship between Shakespeare and improvisation. (Length 31:14) The post Connecting With Shakespeare appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Julie Hammonds's debut novel Blue Mountain Rose is a love letter to theatre and a valentine to the perfect summer Shakespeare festival we all wish we lived next to or worked at year-round. On this week's episode, Julie discusses how you create in fiction the things you can't in real life; the relief of dramatizing professionalism rather than soap-opera histrionics; investigating the perils of celebrity and the timelessness of Shakespeare; and how reading Blue Mountain Rose might just have you booking a flight to Flagstaff, Arizona. (Length 19:50) The post Blue Mountain Rose appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

7 Ages Theatricals is producing the world premiere of Fool, Austin Tichenor's adaptation of Christopher Moore's New York Times bestselling comic novel. Tom Berger, 7AT's executive artistic director, talks about how this theatrical collaboration came to be, and reveals how the combination of Tichenor and Moore creates "a match made in Shakespeare comedy heaven" (Broadway World). Berger discusses the pleasure of being a theatre slut; the importance of staying in one's artistic lane; the stress of not wanting to disappoint each other (or Fool's creator); the paradox of having written "Schrödinger's Play;" the trick of making sure the audience catches what we're throwing; and the fateful coincidence of being a Christopher Moore superfan and a Reduced – as well as a real – Shakespeare guy. (Length 22:46) The post Fool's World Premiere appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Anne Sheridan Smith plays the title role in the Redtwist Theatre production of Titus Andronicus, directed by Redtwist's co-artistic director Dusty Brown, and both actor and director talk about how their production evolved from its original conception. Dusty and Anne reveal how they navigated both Redtwist's beautifully renovated but incredibly intimate space, and the changing political landscape; how they discovered both real-life and theatrical inspirations; and how they're going to pair this production with next month's production of Taylor Mac's Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus. (Length 21:52) The post Storefront Titus Andronicus appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

After a pandemic-related programming pause, Chicago's Tony-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company returns with a new season of programming, including their current production of Circus Quixote, based on Miquel de Cervantes's novel. Longtime LTC ensemble member and newly appointed artistic director Kasey Foster discusses how Lookingglass managed to survive the pandemic; how they created a much more welcoming presence on Michigan Avenue; how she's gone from being a performer to being a classic actor-manager; and most importantly, how Lookingglass offers the sort of performance spectacle you can only get in a live theatre experience. (Length 19:25) The post Welcome Back, Lookingglass! appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Veteran Shakespearean actor Geoffrey Barnes joins the Reduced Shakespeare Company to play Yorick and Ophelia's mother in the regional theatre premiere of The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel). The RSC's 11th stage show marks the company's seventh appearance at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, as well as MRT's 300th production, and Geoffrey discusses how his many years at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Oregon Shakespeare Festival – as well as his background in musical theatre and experience performing RSC scripts at CSC – serve him well in this comic prequel to Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. Geoffrey reveals the value of a comedian not thinking he's funny; how he finds the rhythms and music of the language, whether it's Shakespeare, vaudeville, or August Wilson; and the importance of letting the music and the jokes serve the characters and the story. (Length 21:05) The post Meet Geoffrey Barnes appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Playwright David Blixt talks about Eve of Ides, his play and new audio drama which imagines the relationships between the main characters of Julius Caesar. David reveals the ways in which Eve of Ides is both a sort of prequel and a sequel to Shakespeare's play; how he was introduced to Roman history as a child from a Colleen McCullough audiobook; how he borrowed from Shakespeare in the same way Shakespeare borrowed from Plutarch; why Shakespeare never explores the most important relationship in the play; how Shakespeare reclaimed and completely redefined the reputation of Brutus; and how the fall of the Roman Empire – and how the physical design of Washington DC – offers a scary prediction for America. (Length 19:00) The post Eve Of Ides appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Author Nicole Galland returns to the podcast to discuss her page-turning new historical novel Boy, a story of young love, political intrigue, and cross-dressing both onstage and off in Shakespeare's London. Nicole reveals how she discovered that the separate characters she was imagining belonged in the same book; how the historical Alexander Cooke differs from her fictional creation; how she's able to so brilliantly describe the streets of 16th-century London; the art of reverse-engineering Shakespeare's characters to create the actor who might have played them; why Nicole's a novelist and not a playwright; and how there's nothing better than a literary three-way. (Length 23:04) The post Nicole Galland's ‘Boy' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

RSC artistic directors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor discuss their return to Merrimack Repertory Theatre with the company's 11th show, The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel) as MRT's 300th production. Reed and Austin reveal the RSC's deep connections to New England; how this will be the RSC's third show to premiere at MRT (after The Complete World of Sports (abridged) and The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) and seventh visit overall; and share insights into the creation of the show and why they changed the title; how the show's roll-out and script development got interrupted by the pandemic; what milestone anniversary will be celebrated by our first MRT performance; and how creating a prequel to Shakespeare's greatest play brought unexpected emotional connections to the characters. (LENGTH 18:24) The post Returning To MRT! appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Candice Handy, associate artistic director of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, discusses her production of Lanie Robertson's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, and reveals how she first connected to the material and how the play lands differently now. Candice shares her background as both an actor and musician; Billie Holiday's connection to Lowell; how actors are doctors to the soul; the wonder of discovering things you didn't know you knew; the danger of silencing artists; the value of art in troubled times; and the importance of giving a play the grit it requires to deliver the transcendence it deserves. The post Revisiting ‘Lady Day' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Successful playwrights and television writers (and married couple) Barbara Wallace and Tom Wolfe are playing successful playwrights (and married couple) Charlotte and Arthur Sanders in the Waterfront Playhouse production of Paul Slade Smith's The Angel Next Door through February 8, 2025. Friends of the pod Barb and Tom make their first joint appearance to talk about their return to the stage as “eccentric artists” playing eccentric artists; being directed by Waterfront Playhouse artistic director Patrick New; help from Chicago actor (and friend of the pod) Laura T. Fisher and the LineLearner app; the importance of reading a script's “funny type;” a possible new play called Terror at Four Feet; finding out one's musical chops are out of tune; and how much acting is actually involved for two successful writers playing two successful writers. (Length 21:06) The post Key West ‘Angel's appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Perennially one of the most-produced playwrights in America, Lauren Gunderson returns to discuss A Room in the Castle, her new play based on the women of Hamlet now having its world premiere at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Folger Theatre in Washington DC. Lauren talks about the evolution of her play and reveals how it became more focused on Gertrude, rather than Ophelia; an excellent reason why artists should lunch with other artists; how there is always another story going on; how young people in love are dumb; what her next play will focus on; the definitive answer to the question of Gertrude's complicity in King Hamlet's murder; and how the women of Denmark survive in a world (much like ours) where “patriarchy's gonna patriarchy.” (Length 24:13) (PICTURED, above: Sabrina Lynne Sawyer and Oneika Phillips in the world-premiere of “A Room in the Castle” based on the women of “Hamlet,” by Lauren M. Gunderson, directed by Kaja Dunn, co-produced with Folger Theatre playing January 24-February 9, 2025 at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Photo by Mikki Schaffner. Below, Lauren Gunderson and Austin Tichenor, San Francisco, 2025. Selfie by Austin Tichenor.) The post Gertrude And Ophelia appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Tyrone Phillips is the founding artistic director of Chicago's Definition Theatre and directing Definition's co-production of James Ijames's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham at the Goodman Theatre through February 23, 2025. Phillips discusses the many Shakespearean connections of this “hilarious yet profound tragedy, smothered in comedy” (New York Times); his instinct to always look at plays as music; his realization that he gives every one of his productions “injections of joy;” how he brings a modern energy to classics (like his Twelfth Night at Chicago Shakespeare Theater), and vice-versa; how our past informs our future; how "coming of age" stories can happen to characters of any age; how Ijames “plays the changes” on Shakespeare's Hamlet; and the challenge of always surprising the audience. PLUS! A special appearance by the newest member of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, Geoffrey Warren Barnes II! (Length 17:44) The post Devouring ‘Fat Ham' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

At the closing night banquet of last weekend's Shakespeare Theatre Association conference in San Francisco, Reduced Shakespeare Company artistic directors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor were awarded the Sandra and Sidney Berger Award "in recognition of their outstanding talent and dedication to the works of William Shakespeare." In a conversation recorded immediately afterward, Reed and Austin express their shock and gratitude; thank the many people who have kept the RSC going over the years; share an excerpt of their acceptance speech; and talk about their decades-long journey that brought them to this unlikely moment. (Length 19:30) The post Sidney Berger Award appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Anne Curzan – University of Michigan linguistics professor, podcast host, and author of Says Who? A Kinder Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words – returns to the podcast to talk about how William Shakespeare is used as a source for the origins of hundreds of words, as well as inspiration for a playful approach to language. Anne discusses the unprecedented speed with which language travels and changes today; how slang is "the people's poetry;" an unconventional definition of the word expert; how “it's even in Shakespeare!” can serve as classroom legitimization; the British and American distinctions between collective nouns; and how Shakespeare might have been the TikTok of his day. (Length 22:02) The post Shakespeare's Language Playfulness appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

For this first episode of 2025, RSC co-artistic directors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor discuss how Austin plays the "Alternate Scrooge" in the Goodman Theatre production of A Christmas Carol for the third year in a row. Austin reveals how he threads the needle of honoring the Scrooges he alternates with (Larry Yando and Christopher Donahue) while still making the character his own; the difference between being an alternate and an understudy; how he inherited the role from previous alternate and now current Scrooge Allen Gilmore; the secrets to flying, including massive shout-outs to ZFX Flying, who makes the magic happen (not "VFX," as misidentified by Austin); what it's like to work with young performers; the danger of running out of mental bandwidth during the holidays; and the privilege of jumping from reduced productions to the Goodman's massive annual extravaganza. (Length 38:46) The post Threading The Needle appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

For this special encore podcast episode, we present – in its entirety – the complete and unabridged recording of A Little Dickens: The Complete Christmas Carol (abridged). (Dickens's story is abridged, not the recording. You'll work it out.) First heard on Public Radio International in 1995, this antic audio adaptation features Reed Martin as Jacob Marley, Matthew Croke as Tiny Tim, and Austin Tichenor as Ebenezer Scrooge (the role he's currently playing at Chicago's Goodman Theatre). May it warm your cockles! (Length 10:47) The post Special Christmas Encore! appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Chicago actor Christopher Donahue (currently playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol), discusses playing the role of Gayev in the Goodman's 2023 production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, directed by Robert Falls. Donahue reveals the challenges and rewards of discovering a character in rehearsal; how he finds humor alongside absurdity; how he takes inspiration from the original Dickens novel of A Christmas Carol; how people can be capable of change; his relationship with Tony-winning director (and friend of the pod) Mary Zimmerman; and finally, how the audience teaches you how to perform the play because the audience is the reason we do this. (Length 20:51) The post Chekhov To Dickens appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Richard Schoch returns to discuss How Sondheim Can Change Your Life, his latest book that offers new insights into the work of Stephen Sondheim, how it was created, how it's affected audiences for over 60 years, and – yes – what life lessons can be gleaned from his shows. Richard reveals some fascinating inside publishing baseball; reasons for the addition of the song “Something Just Broke” in Assassins; academic backup from Mandy Patinkin; how he makes a close reading of the text so personal and readable; and a surprisingly cogent answer to the facile question of whether Sondheim is our modern Shakespeare. (Length 29:49) The post Sondheim Life Lessons appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Actor/comedian Mike McShane (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Whose Line Is It, Anyway?) is playing Ebenezer Scrooge in A Red Carol, a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol for the legendary San Francisco Mime Troupe. Mike discusses how this "activist adaptation" differs from other takes on the Dickens classic; how he's able to combine serious dramatic acting with, in his words, "as cheap comedy as you can get this year” and how a clown can play Hamlet easier than a proper actor can play a clown; the disconnect between Christmas Carol audiences in the theater and the same people passing unhoused people on the street; how two veterans of West End Shakespeare are both playing Scrooge for American theater institutions in San Francisco and Chicago; how Alan Rickman came up with his great lines in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; and the glory of creating politically activist theater that's also ridiculously funny and entertaining. (Length 21:21) The post Mike McShane's Scrooge appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Humorist and novelist James Finn Garner returns to discuss his New York Times bestselling collection Politically Correct Holiday Stories and how the holidays represent a deeply personal literary tradition. Jim shares how challenging it was to walk that satirical line between poking fun at holiday cant while still embracing genuine sentiment; how a holiday story was his first published work; how bedtime stories were easier to satirize because everything's so black and white; how play can be the best form of celebration; how he wants to shift holiday paradigms and sit down to a feast of mutual delusions; and the thing that made a hard-boiled humorist go all soft and squishy inside. (Length 19:22) The post PC Holiday Stories appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Darren Freebury-Jones's fascinating new book, Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers: How early modern playwrights shaped the world's greatest writer, contextualizes Shakespeare's writing and examines how it expands upon and diverges from the other plays being written at the time. In this fun conversation, Darren, a lecturer in Shakespeare Studies in Stratford-upon-Avon, considers alternate ways of identifying Shakespeare's artistry; dispels the myth of Shakespeare as a solitary genius; likens this kind of early modern study to examining the output of a single band's music without reference to other bands making music at the same time; and reveals how Shakespeare, as part of a thriving theatrical community, was less an upstart crow than a brilliant magpie. CONTENT WARNING: There will be math(s). (Length 24:28) The post Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

It's the Podcast's 18th birthday! Austin Tichenor, Reed Martin, and Adam Long celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Ring Reduced, the RSC's 1994 film for Britain's Channel 4 which compressed Wagner's epic opera Der Ring des Nibelungen into a brief and palatable 24 minutes. Adam, Austin, and Reed share their favorite fun facts about Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung; reveal their inspiration from Anna Russell; speculate on comic directions not taken; confirm that the Reduced Shakespeare Company is completely and utterly responsible for the success of Ted Lasso; disclose how they created the most expensive and complicated gag of the entire shoot; and marvel how for one brief shining moment, they were the Rhinemaidens of all media. (Length 29:09) The post Ring Reduced Remembered appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Fresh off its successful run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale opens this week in Auckland, New Zealand, and Rick Hall discusses the challenges and pleasures of playing J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbit hero. Rick reveals the education he's received in Middle-earth and the pride he feels in no longer being a bit of an idiot; the struggle of getting your high school trombone lip back; the fun of jumping through traps and making eight-second costume changes; getting real-time notes from the audience; lengthy discussions about hobbit feet; and the emotional power of a small(ish) ensemble telling an epic tale. (Length 20:59) (PICTURED: Spencer Davis Milford (l) as Frodo and Rick Hall (r) as Bilbo in rehearsal for The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale, directed by Paul Hart. Photo by Liz Lauren, courtesy of Chicago Shakespeare Theater.) The post Playing Bilbo Baggins appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Tamara Harvey, the new co-artistic director of the "other" RSC – the Royal Shakespeare Company – discusses her exquisite production of Pericles, and how it came to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and speaks to our current moment on both side of the Atlantic. Tamara reveals how Shakespeare's characters navigate different kinds of leadership; how she and her co-artistic director Daniel Evans hope to reach across borders and collaborate with international artists; how the challenges of the play felts like a gift; her genius solution to the narrator; how she feels in collaboration with Shakespeare, and how his Pericles weaves a unique spell; and the vital importance of giving audiences badly-needed hope and joy. (Length 18:23) The post The RSC's ‘Pericles' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Director Malkia Stampley, whose beautiful production of Eboni Booth's 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Primary Trust runs at Chicago's Goodman Theatre through November 3, 2024, discusses how she embraced the play's delicate intimacy and transformed a literary script into a theatrical event. Malkia reveals the ways in which a live audience and actors playing multiple characters lift a potentially naturalistic play into a theatrical realm; how she eschewed melodrama and discovered the mystery and curiosity she was looking for; how clowns can find the funny and serious actors the gravitas; and the value of always looking for – and finding – the light. (Length 18:23) The post Directing ‘Primary Trust' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Charlotte Booker discusses her show Elsa Lanchester: She's Alive!, which celebrates the great character actress who played the title role in The Bride of Frankenstein and runs Wednesdays and Thursdays this month at the Venus Cabaret in Chicago. Charlotte is joined both onstage and in this conversation by her husband and accompanist Mark Nutter, and shares some of the secrets and similarities between her and her subject, including youthful flings with onstage nudity; the glory of being the first female monster; how Elsa was raised to be a free spirit by artist-Bohemians and became the former It Girl of London; playing Katie Nanna in Mary Poppins and Miss Marbles in Murder by Death; being drawn to fellow redheads; the challenges of having an “absinthe father;” the perils of being institutionalized for “over-education;” and the posthumous joy of being a Goth icon. (Length 20:32) The post Charlotte Booker's ‘Alive!' appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

In this new edition of Great Moments with Mr. Bakula, the former captain of the Enterprise and famous Quantum Leap-er discusses playing America's 16th president in Mister Lincoln, Herbert Mitgang's one-man show now onstage at the storied Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. Scott reveals how the role came to him; his long association with this particular venue; his history of leaping into the bodies of other notable Americans, such as Dr. Ruth; how his whole career has been a lovely surprise; coming full circle in the musical Shenandoah!; fudging the rules of time travel; hesitation to do his own beard work; excellent direction from James Whitmore, Jr. (son of another fabled one-man show performer); gratitude for a hero's return; Lincoln's deep familiarity with Shakespeare; and how the theatre is and always has been Bakula's first love. (Length 32:24) The post Scott Bakula's Lincoln appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Daniel “Rover” Singer began his entertainment career in the theater world, and he found great success there before joining Walt Disney Imagineering. As a co-founder of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, he helped create The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).… Read more... The post 243. Imagineer Daniel “Rover” Singer on Beastly Kingdom, Roger Rabbit, and Indiana Jones appeared first on Tomorrow Society.

Artistic director Edward Hall's production of Henry V at Chicago Shakespeare Theater includes the frequently cut "Salic law speech" ("the best speech in Shakespeare" – Mya Gosling, GoodTickleBrain), and friend of the pod Gregory Linington explains how he speaks the speech as the Archbishop of Canterbury, and how its inclusion is emblematic of the production as a whole. Gregory, who is a verse and dialect coach in addition to being an actor, shares how the speeches in this production are broken down surgically; how the historical Henry prized wisdom and experience over youth and moxie (as does this production); how director Hall fills the stage with a powerful ensemble of veteran character actors; how the famous "band of brothers" becomes a literal band; and how this powerful production balances contemporary flourishes with a traditional reading of the text. (Length 21:11) (PICTURED: The cast of Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Henry V, directed by Edward Hall. Photo by Liz Lauren.) The post Salic Law Speech appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Actor and comedian Stephnie Weir (Mad TV, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) discusses the origins of her one-woman show The West Texas Weirs, which she performs this weekend at Chicago's IO Theater. Stephnie shares how she grew up on a used car lot; how dealing with a complicated father made her the person she is today; the trick of navigating unconventional relationships with reality; how family vacations were planned around repossessing cars; the potentially NSFW origin of terms like "hunty” and "askholes;” how vowels are expensive; and how a comedic exorcism can help process our feelings about complicated men. (Length 18:06) The post West Texas Weirs appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

They keep writing American history so we have to keep reducing it! Playwrights Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor discuss how they've updated The Complete History of America (abridged), which they wrote with Adam Long back in 1993. Reed and Austin share how Dee Ryan's recent one-hour production of the script was so helpful; how Reed discovered who the most pivotal figure in American history has been for the last 30 years; the challenges of keeping up just the last two weeks of American history; how the "Special Election Edition" that the RSC performs differs from the published version of the script; why Reed's heavy teaching schedule prevents him from joining us on the road; and how adjunct professors are doing the Lord's work (without the benefits). (Length 18:18) The post Updating America (Abridged) appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Novelist Louis Bayard's new book The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts, depicts the fateful weekend in 1892 that spawned not only the comedy of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest but the tragic downfall of Oscar's family. Bayard reveals how he walked that tonal line; how he's been in touch with Wilde's still-living grandson; how he combined the historical romance of Courting Mr. Lincoln with the suspense and intrigue of The Pale Blue Eye; how it's easier to depict famous characters through the eyes of their contemporaries; and how Constance Wilde finally glimpsed the flamboyant public persona of her otherwise devoted husband and father. (Length 19:31) The post Louis Bayard's Wilde appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Writer and actor Mitchell Bisschop discusses his new one-man show Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago, now running at the Chopin Theater until the end of September (2024). Bisschop shares his inspirations for the show, including talking to Royko's surviving friends and relatives; how he based his script on Royko's 34-year career and over 7500 columns; how Royko – like a Shakespearean fool – told truth to power and ended up winning a Pulitzer Prize; how he got to know Royko's "leg creatures;" and how Mike Royko asked the questions nobody else was asking. (LENGTH 18:20) The post Royko: Chicago's Shakespeare appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

We remember longtime RSC colleague Jerry Kernion, who passed away last week after a short illness. Jerry acted for us in multiple shows and produced, directed, and edited our DVD film version of The Complete History of America (abridged). A much in-demand stage and film actor, we hear excerpts from previous podcast interviews where Jerry discusses performing both Dromios in A Noise Within's The Comedy of Errors, Sir Toby Belch, and Colonel Tom Parker in the jukebox musical Heartbreak Hotel. (Length 23:01) The post Remembering Jerry Kernion appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Sara Holdren is not just one of the best theatre critics out there, she's a director as well whose production of As You Like It opens this week at Shakespeare at Notre Dame and plays through Labor Day. Sara reveals how she connected Shakespeare's 400-year-old play to the current moment; how we craft community; how she drew inspiration from Vermont's Bread and Puppet Theatre; the challenge of being both textually and texturally surprising; how As You Like It requires an ensemble of clowns and the challenge of figuring out the comedy math; how “criticism is directing backwards;” the value of doing table work while standing up and moving around; formative memories of "butt-love;" and most importantly, what the world would look like if we really could express ourselves, love who we want, and build the spaces around us “as we like it”. (Length 28:50) The post Director Sara Holdren appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

In this episode, we're talking with Austin Tichenor, co-Artistic Director of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and longtime actor, author, podcaster, and Folger Shakespeare Library blogger. Austin takes us back to the early Renaissance Faire days of the RSC, and tells us about the Company's experiences reducing other Great Works and Notable Events—from being banned in Belfast for their Bible play to revising their “Compete History of America (Abridged)” to meet our current political moment.

Oliver Senton, one of the co-founders of The School of Night, discusses the origins of the great British Shakespearean improv company (loosely inspired by the mysterious Elizabethan cabal of the same name) and its connection to the late, great actor, writer, and director Ken Campbell (pictured below with Senton). As also one of the co-founders of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Senton discusses the comparative difficulties of improvising songs vs. improvising in iambic pentameter and reveals Campbell's shared connection with the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Senton also explores the secrets of how improvising Shakespeare informs one's understanding of his plays; the surprising wonder of being big in Newfoundland; how being famous gets in the way of one's writing; the distinction between Shakespearean characters and Marlovian grandstanding; and the ultimate challenge of improvising a complete, compelling narrative. (Length 20:57) (Pictured above, l-r: Michael Joseph Chance, Dylan Emery, Sean McCann, Alan Cox and Oliver Senton)

Larry Yando (left, above) discusses playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre production of A Christmas Carol with his "Alternate Scrooge," the Reduced Shakespeare Company's own Austin Tichenor. The two actors talk about the challenge of being haunted by the Ghost of Productions Past; how Dickens's story continues to percolate in the off-season; how they navigate script changes, especially the little annoying ones; how Scrooge compares to some of the other great roles Yando's played (such as Scar in The Lion King, Prospero, Roy Cohn in Angels in America); how seeing another actor play “your” role can sometimes act like “an undigested bit of beef;” why the story stays relevant year after year; the value of staying on your toes; how and why Scrooge chooses Marley over Belle; and how if A Christmas Carol ended 20 minutes earlier, it'd be King Lear. (Length 21:48)

In this episode of "What Makes You Wonderful," we chat with Philip McLaughlin, the marketing director for Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia. We dive into some of their upcoming events, starting with "The Complete History of Comedy" by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, which is set to premiere on Friday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m.   We also discuss another captivating show scheduled for next week, "Rock with Rachmaninoff," featuring the incredibly talented Barbara Nissman.  For more information: https://www.carnegiehallwv.org/