One can view this performance as a whole, or pick out bits one finds amusing. If you have a short attention span, don't worry. If you like the Three Stooges, the slapstick is right up your alley. If you like Shakespeare already, you'll like the witty satire going on here. It is a rollicking, comedic fun time for all. And, one can never view 'Othello' in quite the same way after hearing the 'Reduced Shakesperians' rendition of 'Othello Rap.' This performance is much more (or less) than a teaching tool. The histories are also compressed in a manner that only Americans could have devised. The overview of the other plays is inspired, lumping the main ideas of Shakespeare's comedies into one tossed-salad. With their more-or-less complete versions of 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Hamlet,' even my most resistant students know the major plot points and themes of these plays. Enter the Reduced Shakespeare Company with its 'The Complete Works of 'William Shakespeare (Abridged).' I have used excerpts in class to show the kids that Shakespeare can be a lot of fun. Like broccoli, the classics are good for us, but they're hard for some to digest. It's like getting a small child to eat his vegetables. When I mention Shakespeare, eyes roll, heads fall onto desks, and moans can be heard.

As a secondary English teacher, I have difficulty sometimes getting my students to embrace the classics. When 'The Reduced Shakespeare Company' came available on VHS (then, later, DVD), I purchased it, and have been enjoying and sharing it ever since. Little did we know what that wink signified, as we had no idea of the lunacy that was in store for us. My son and I decided to to go based solely on the play's title, and a winking caricature of Shakespeare displayed on the poster. I first encountered this grandly amusing entertainment as a live production at my university campus some years ago.

All the works of shakespeare