WEBLINKS
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FACTS
| Hamlet was the company's first show back in 1981. It was just 20 minutes long!
In 1996 the company performed The Bible show in Jerusalem, travellin gin the area during the Gulf War.
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 |  | Preview by Faye Claridge, of the site team
I caught up with the Reduced Shakespeare Company's resurrected show on its extensive tour to see what we could expect when they arrive at the Warwick Arts Centre in May.
What I saw was damn-near miraculous. The fast-paced romp goes from Creation to Armageddon in just two roller-coaster hours.
 The greatest story ever taken as fact
 | 听 | One of the opening lines, The Bible show
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In the beginning there was a white-bearded God. He played guitar, sang country songs and dreamed of hitting Anne Robinson.
You see this and immediately know you're in for an unusual version of the Bible. But that's what we expect from the Reduced Shakespeare Company.
With ample doses of cross-dressing, sexual references and blue-grass music, the frantic group re-tell the Good Book at a break-neck pace.
| 听 |  | The Bible tour poster
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And the audience love it.
The many characters in the Bible are covered by only three men, which should be a challenge.
As they all wear cheesecloth, though, the costume changes consist of just swapping a beard or donning a pair of plastic boobs. It all adds to the comedy.
The laughs are as intense as the show: they just keep coming. Some of the lines are very corny and the delivery is brashly unsophisticated. This is unsurprising as the company and their style was originally honed in 20 minute busking slots.
It's clever, cheeky, animated and in-your-face. All the things you wouldn't expect from the Bible.
| 听 | Reviewer's reaction
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The Bible might have been a difficult subject but actually the company's fast, light and irreverent style suits the text perfectly.
Despite taking on the big boss, the show feels more like a series of school boys' naughty jokes than travesty.
This was proven when the lads first performed the show in Jerusalem a few years ago and received a great response.
Not to say that it wimps out of using the Bible to the fullest.
The show uses wrestling, comedy songs, cheeky one-liners and an array of toys and props to tread the fine line between celebrating and questioning what they dub: "The greatest story ever taken as fact."
One question they raise resonates clearly - is life random and absurd or planned and controlled?
This reflects the balance the company is trying to strike in their style - pretending to forget lines, using inadequate props, performing in-fights about what to include in the show - always with a slick well-prepared technique.
Definitely go and see this show. You don't need any prior interest in the company or the Bible as both unfold entertainingly on stage.
It's clever, cheeky and animated. All the things you wouldn't expect from the Bible.
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