America: 'Abridged' too far

The Complete History of America (Abridged), written and originally performed by Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor of Reduced Shakespeare Company fame, has been called "spine crackingly funny" by the Sunday Times and "intellectual vaudeville" by The New York Times. But that was when Long, Martin, and Tichenor performed it. This weekend's undergrad production of the show proves that no matter how talented and enthusiastic the actors, some shows can never be performed with anything other than the original cast.

The Complete History of America (Abridged): By the Reduced Shakespeare Company, Directed by Kristin Urguiza CHIP LOCKWOOD/YH 'Hey, look. He's got a hat.'

Directed by Kristin Urguiza, MC '03, and starring Matthew Johnson, MC '03, Andrew Lovett, ES '04, and Valerie Work, DC '03, the show is essentially a children's theater production for grown-ups. In 90 minutes of vignettes, chitchat with the audience, and goofy songs and dances, the three actors present an "abridged" version of American history, focusing mainly on the "funny stuff." The script is witty and casual and relies heavily on audience participation. It's a specialized genre that has made the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) comedy troupes widely successful for 20 years.

Much of that success stems from the original actors' natural rapport, which in turn comes from their self-written scripts. Because they created the jokes and their onstage personas, they have the advantage of natural delivery, and because they are constantly on tour, they have the opportunity to cultivate and improve their performances over a long run. This natural quality of the original production is unfortunately but necessarily lost when another trio attempts to perform it. For the same reason an amateur can never deliver a Seinfeld monologue the way Seinfeld can, the production can never live up to the RSC's original.

Nonetheless, Johnson, Lovett, and Work put forth a valiant effort. Work, in particular, is lively and likeable, and Lovett's deep-voiced intellectual dufus is almost charming. But their collective performance is stilted and somewhat forced, which, unfortunately, works against the show's potential for audience participation. Their routine is amusing enough for a couple of chuckles, but too awkward to be "spine crackingly funny."

On a tour or a longer engagement, with the opportunity to introduce fresh material, the three would naturally become more comfortable with one another and with their audience. But as college students recycling a professional comedy troupe's jokes for one weekend, they don't quite hit the mark.

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