The Complete World of Sports (abridged)

Synopsis

The original "bad boys of abridgement" are back in the UK following a highly successful run in New York and a sell-out US tour of The Complete World of Sports (abridged). In this merciless but affectionate satire, The Reduced Shakespeare Company canter through the entire history of athletic competition in a marathon of madness and mayhem that sees the world's great sporting events shrunk down to theatrical size. The result is a tour-de-force comedy that will delight every sports and non-sports fan in the family. Every sport ever played on every continent in the entire history of the world in under two hours! Let the games begin!

Our Review:

Anne Morley-Priestman - 3 July 2012

There’s a great deal of sport around at the moment – and that, of course, includes the Olympic Games. Rather too much for some of us perhaps, so it’s good to see such national obsessions viewed through a satirical prism. Take the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Complete World of Sports (Abridged) for instance, which performs exactly what the title promises.

We are whirled through time and place, from cavemen to commentators with audience participation, local references and topical quips thrown in for good measure. It balances itself between stand-up comedy and comedy theatre (that can be quite a thin, not to say treacherous, line) and keeps most of its audience in a constant state of laughter and applause. Voluntary – perhaps unwanted but not unexpected – audience participation is dealt with skilfully.

Clever props with quick costume and wig changes give it all a deceptively simple air. The timing is spot-on as co-writers and...

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