The Hope College Great Performance Series will feature the acclaimed comedy troupe the Reduced Shakespeare Company on Friday, Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
The three-man comedy troupe, often referred to as the “Bad Boys of Abridgment,” will perform a hilarious new work, “William Shakespeare’s Long-Lost First Play (abridged).” The comic misadventure will feel strangely familiar since in it weaves all of The Bard's famous characters, greatest lines and magnificent speeches into a brand new Shakespearean smorgasbord.
The “Cincinnati Enquirer” praised one of the company’s performances as “A wild, wild ride! It’s funny. Really, really funny... and most of all, it’s really, really smart.” The “Washington Post” lauded another as “A breathlessly irreverent and pun-filled romp!”
Since its pass-the-hat origins in 1981, the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) has created 10 world-renowned stage shows, two television specials, several failed TV pilots and numerous radio pieces, all of which have been performed, seen and heard the world over. The company’s itinerary has included stops off-Broadway, at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s West End, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre and Montreal’s famed Just for Laughs Festival.
The RSC won the prestigious “Shorty Award” in New York City and the “Delft Audience Award” in the Netherlands. The company has also been nominated for an “Olivier Award” in London; two “Helen Hayes Awards” in Washington, D.C.; the “SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award”; and several podcast awards.
Tickets for the performance are $20 for regular admission, $15 for senior citizens, $6 for children 18 and under, and free for Hope College students, and are available at the ticket office in the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890. Tickets are also available online.
More information about the season may be obtained online.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.