Reduced Shakespeare Company
@reduced.bsky.social
Making long serious topics short & silly.
Bleets by co-artistic director @austintichenor.bsky.social
ReducedShakespeare.com
Bleets by co-artistic director @austintichenor.bsky.social
ReducedShakespeare.com
Pinned
Hey Washington and Oregon!
We're performing "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" on:
DECEMBER 3 – Edmonds WA
DECEMBER 4 – Olympia WA
DECEMBER 10 – Beaverton OR
DECEMBER 12 – Edmonds WA
Find links to the venues on our website here!
www.reducedshakespeare.com#tour
We're performing "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" on:
DECEMBER 3 – Edmonds WA
DECEMBER 4 – Olympia WA
DECEMBER 10 – Beaverton OR
DECEMBER 12 – Edmonds WA
Find links to the venues on our website here!
www.reducedshakespeare.com#tour
THIS WEEK: Farah Karim-Cooper, director of the @folger.edu, discusses "All The World's Your Stage," her new book that explores Shakespeare's life and times through eight of his most famous plays, for readers of all ages. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Farah Karim-Cooper - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Folger Shakespeare Library director Farah Karim-Cooper's new book All the World's Your Stage explores for readers of all ages the life and times of William Shakespeare through eight of his most popula...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:10 PM
THIS WEEK: Farah Karim-Cooper, director of the @folger.edu, discusses "All The World's Your Stage," her new book that explores Shakespeare's life and times through eight of his most famous plays, for readers of all ages. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Hey Washington and Oregon!
We're performing "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" on:
DECEMBER 3 – Edmonds WA
DECEMBER 4 – Olympia WA
DECEMBER 10 – Beaverton OR
DECEMBER 12 – Edmonds WA
Find links to the venues on our website here!
www.reducedshakespeare.com#tour
We're performing "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" on:
DECEMBER 3 – Edmonds WA
DECEMBER 4 – Olympia WA
DECEMBER 10 – Beaverton OR
DECEMBER 12 – Edmonds WA
Find links to the venues on our website here!
www.reducedshakespeare.com#tour
November 26, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Hey Washington and Oregon!
We're performing "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" on:
DECEMBER 3 – Edmonds WA
DECEMBER 4 – Olympia WA
DECEMBER 10 – Beaverton OR
DECEMBER 12 – Edmonds WA
Find links to the venues on our website here!
www.reducedshakespeare.com#tour
We're performing "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)" on:
DECEMBER 3 – Edmonds WA
DECEMBER 4 – Olympia WA
DECEMBER 10 – Beaverton OR
DECEMBER 12 – Edmonds WA
Find links to the venues on our website here!
www.reducedshakespeare.com#tour
Very excited to be returning to the UK in 2026 with the show that started it all! #CompleteWorks #Shakespeare #CompleteShakespeare
November 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Very excited to be returning to the UK in 2026 with the show that started it all! #CompleteWorks #Shakespeare #CompleteShakespeare
“That’s too long for a play.”
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
I wrote about Else Went’s high school epic “Initiative,” now running at the Public Theater—and why the theater’s director of new work development calls it “the definitive play of a generation.”
In This Show, Four Years of High School Unfold Over Five Hours
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
“That’s too long for a play.”
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
Director Malkia Stampley returns to the Podcast to discuss how A CHRISTMAS CAROL @goodmantheatre.bsky.social (which she's directing for the first time) changes every year to reflect the world we live in. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Malkia’s Christmas Carol - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Malkia Stampley (above) is directing the Goodman Theatre's 48th annual production of A Christmas Carol (in previews now, opening Sunday, and running through New Year's Eve), and reflects how her exper...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Director Malkia Stampley returns to the Podcast to discuss how A CHRISTMAS CAROL @goodmantheatre.bsky.social (which she's directing for the first time) changes every year to reflect the world we live in. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
The RSC Podcast celebrates its 19th unbroken year of weekly episodes by talking to playwright Andrew Moorhead, whose new office comedy "This Purple F***ing Pot" begins its limited off-Broadway run this week. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Purple F***ing Pot - Reduced Shakespeare Company
To celebrate the start of the podcast's 20th Season, playwright and author Andrew Moorhead returns to talk about his play This Purple F***ing Pot, a new office comedy now getting a limited site-specif...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The RSC Podcast celebrates its 19th unbroken year of weekly episodes by talking to playwright Andrew Moorhead, whose new office comedy "This Purple F***ing Pot" begins its limited off-Broadway run this week. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
On the Podcast: Improvised Shakespeare Company celebrates its 20th anniversary w/ performances in Chicago, LA, and all over the country, and founder Blaine Swen discusses how ISC outgrew its humble origins. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Improvised Shakespeare Company - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Chicago's Improvised Shakespeare Company celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025, and founder/director Blaine Swendiscusses the company's humble origins and how it now performs regularly in Chicago an...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:32 PM
On the Podcast: Improvised Shakespeare Company celebrates its 20th anniversary w/ performances in Chicago, LA, and all over the country, and founder Blaine Swen discusses how ISC outgrew its humble origins. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
On the pod: Our sweet celebration of the Good Book premiered with no controversy 30 years ago at the Kennedy Center. Can you imagine?? We reminisce and marvel at how times have changed…for the worse. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Celebrating The Bible - Reduced Shakespeare Company
The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged), an irreverent celebration of “the greatest story ever accepted as fact” that was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play, celebrates its 30t...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:04 PM
On the pod: Our sweet celebration of the Good Book premiered with no controversy 30 years ago at the Kennedy Center. Can you imagine?? We reminisce and marvel at how times have changed…for the worse. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
"Paranormal Activity" @chicagoshakes.bsky.social is a GREAT new play with amazing scares and surprising depth. On the podcast, Shannon Cochran discusses how she came to be part of it, and the surprising niche she finds herself in. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Shannon Cochran’s ‘Paranormal’ - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Stage actor Shannon Cochran (August: Osage County) brings her horror movie bona fides (The Ring; The Hand That Rocks The Cradle) to the phenomenal new stage play Paranormal Activity, an original new s...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:03 PM
"Paranormal Activity" @chicagoshakes.bsky.social is a GREAT new play with amazing scares and surprising depth. On the podcast, Shannon Cochran discusses how she came to be part of it, and the surprising niche she finds herself in. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
On the Podcast: Gerrad Alex Taylor discusses his world premiere adaptation of SHAKESPEARE IN HARLEM, opening 10/30 @artsatumbc.bsky.social, which combines Shakespeare and Langston Hughes to canonize the Black experience. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Shakespeare In Harlem - Reduced Shakespeare Company
A hundred years on from the Harlem Renaissance, Gerrad Alex Taylor has adapted Langston Hughes’s Shakespeare in Harlem, which is having its world premiere this month at the University of Maryland Balt...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:03 PM
On the Podcast: Gerrad Alex Taylor discusses his world premiere adaptation of SHAKESPEARE IN HARLEM, opening 10/30 @artsatumbc.bsky.social, which combines Shakespeare and Langston Hughes to canonize the Black experience. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
On the Podcast: Danielle Davis & Bri Sudia discuss how the Q Brothers' ROME SWEET ROME @chicagoshakes.bsky.social, a musical comedy about the unintended consequences of political violence feels more necessary than ever. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Rome Sweet Rome - Reduced Shakespeare Company
The Q Brothers Collective (Othello: The Remix; Funk It Up About Nothing) have created Rome Sweet Rome, a wild and satirical new “add-rap-tation” of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar now running at Chicago S...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
On the Podcast: Danielle Davis & Bri Sudia discuss how the Q Brothers' ROME SWEET ROME @chicagoshakes.bsky.social, a musical comedy about the unintended consequences of political violence feels more necessary than ever. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
More podcast chat with RSC college buddy Nina Ruscio, who shares stories of designing the Emmy-winning Best Drama THE PITT and working with (Emmy-winning!) star and exec producer Noah Wyle. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/nina...
Nina Ruscio Designs - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Our conversation with Nina Ruscio, the production designer of The Pitt, continues this week with further details of how unprecedented her design for HBO's Emmy-winning Best Drama really is. Nina compa...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:58 PM
More podcast chat with RSC college buddy Nina Ruscio, who shares stories of designing the Emmy-winning Best Drama THE PITT and working with (Emmy-winning!) star and exec producer Noah Wyle. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/nina...
On the Podcast: Nina Ruscio discusses her journey from designing @austintichenor.bsky.social's college musical to designing the biggest (in every way) show on television. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/desi...
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/desi...
Designing The Pitt - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Nina Ruscio, the Emmy-nominated (for The Flight Attendant) production designer of The Pitt on HBO, discusses how her design helped create this enormous – and enormously popular – show. Nina reveals ho...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:08 PM
On the Podcast: Nina Ruscio discusses her journey from designing @austintichenor.bsky.social's college musical to designing the biggest (in every way) show on television. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/desi...
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/desi...
On the Podcast: Playwright James Sherman discusses his new play about TV icon Gertrude Berg, now having its world premiere at Chicago's Northlight Theatre. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/tele...
Television’s First Lady - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Playwright James Sherman (Chagall in School) returns to discuss his new play The First Lady of Television, now having its world premiere at Chicago's Northlight Theatre. Jim shares his inspiration for...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:41 PM
On the Podcast: Playwright James Sherman discusses his new play about TV icon Gertrude Berg, now having its world premiere at Chicago's Northlight Theatre. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/09/tele...
Second City veterans Joe Liss and Dee Ryan talk about their improv horror parody MISERY LOVES COMPANY, which they're taking to the Rochester Fringe Festival 9/12 & 14. It's a cockadoodie good time! HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)!
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/08/mise...
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/08/mise...
Misery Loves Company - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Joe Liss (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Strangers With Candy; Home Alone 2) and Dee Ryan (The Office, 10 Items Or Less, United States of Tara) are bringing their improvised horror parody Misery Loves Company ...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
August 19, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Second City veterans Joe Liss and Dee Ryan talk about their improv horror parody MISERY LOVES COMPANY, which they're taking to the Rochester Fringe Festival 9/12 & 14. It's a cockadoodie good time! HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)!
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/08/mise...
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/08/mise...
The great James Shapiro - author, educator, & Shakespeare consultant for New York's Public Theater - discusses his work, what he learns from actors, and how we turn to Shakespeare to understand the stakes of what's happening around us. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)!
Shakespearean James Shapiro - Reduced Shakespeare Company
James Shapiro wears many hats – author, scholar, cultural historian, consultant to New York's Public Theatre – discusses his work with actors and students, as well as his invaluable books A Year in th...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
August 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM
The great James Shapiro - author, educator, & Shakespeare consultant for New York's Public Theater - discusses his work, what he learns from actors, and how we turn to Shakespeare to understand the stakes of what's happening around us. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)!
Well, this is exciting. Coming in January from @ardenpublisher.bsky.social.
www.bloomsbury.com/us/shakespea...
www.bloomsbury.com/us/shakespea...
Shakespeare in the Theatre: Reduced Shakespeare Company
The first dedicated historical study of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, this book explores the troupe's four major Shakespearean works over the past four decad…
www.bloomsbury.com
July 7, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Well, this is exciting. Coming in January from @ardenpublisher.bsky.social.
www.bloomsbury.com/us/shakespea...
www.bloomsbury.com/us/shakespea...
The delightful @madplays.bsky.social returns to the RSC Podcast to discuss her funny new drama DHABA ON DEVON AVENUE, now having its world premiere at Chicago's Writers Theatre (in a co-pro with TimeLine Theatre). HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Dhaba On Devon - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Playwright and screenwriter Madhuri Shekar returns to talk about Dhaba on Devon Avenue, now having its much-delayed world premiere at Chicago's Writers Theatre in a co-production with Timeline Theatre...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
July 2, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The delightful @madplays.bsky.social returns to the RSC Podcast to discuss her funny new drama DHABA ON DEVON AVENUE, now having its world premiere at Chicago's Writers Theatre (in a co-pro with TimeLine Theatre). HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
In honor of today's opening of 28 YEARS LATER, here's that time 23 years ago that Cillian Murphy wandered through deserted London past our Criterion Theatre marquee in 28 *DAYS* LATER. Good times.
June 20, 2025 at 9:46 PM
In honor of today's opening of 28 YEARS LATER, here's that time 23 years ago that Cillian Murphy wandered through deserted London past our Criterion Theatre marquee in 28 *DAYS* LATER. Good times.
Actor/improviser Matt Walsh (VEEP, Upright Citizens Brigade) reveals improv’s magical qualities, including how improv skills can improve your acting…and vice versa. Matt’s touring New England this summer. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/06/impr...
June 19, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Actor/improviser Matt Walsh (VEEP, Upright Citizens Brigade) reveals improv’s magical qualities, including how improv skills can improve your acting…and vice versa. Matt’s touring New England this summer. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/06/impr...
On the pod: @austintichenor.bsky.social talks about doing CORIOLANUS next Monday with Chicago's Back Room Shakespeare Project and embodying their ethos of "Serious actors. No director. One rehearsal. In a bar." HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
Preparing For Coriolanus - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Host Austin Tichenor returns to Chicago's Back Room Shakespeare Project to perform in their production of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus on June 16, 2025 at the Hideout, and he discusses with the sh...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
June 11, 2025 at 5:02 PM
On the pod: @austintichenor.bsky.social talks about doing CORIOLANUS next Monday with Chicago's Back Room Shakespeare Project and embodying their ethos of "Serious actors. No director. One rehearsal. In a bar." HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
On the Podcast: Actor Jon Glaser ("Parks & Recreation") talks about turning his comedy album "Jon Glaser's Soothing Meditations for the Solitary Dog" into a live show that partners with orgs & shelters that support dogs & their owners. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)!
Glaser’s Dog Meditations - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Actor, author, and comedian Jon Glaser (Parks and Recreation, Delocated, Inside Amy Schumer, Neon Joe Werewolf Hunter) is turning his recent comedy album Jon Glaser's Soothing Meditations for the Soli...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
June 4, 2025 at 9:50 PM
On the Podcast: Actor Jon Glaser ("Parks & Recreation") talks about turning his comedy album "Jon Glaser's Soothing Meditations for the Solitary Dog" into a live show that partners with orgs & shelters that support dogs & their owners. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)!
On the Podcast: @bethwolf.bsky.social, founding AD of Chicago's Midsommer Flight, reveals how this summer's LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST is the perfect Shakespeare comedy for this moment. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/05/mids...
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/05/mids...
Midsommer Flight Dream - Reduced Shakespeare Company
Beth Wolf, the founding producing artistic director of Midsommer Flight, discusses her company's upcoming production of Love’s Labour’s Lost, which has been performing for free in parks throughout Chi...
www.reducedshakespeare.com
May 30, 2025 at 11:52 PM
On the Podcast: @bethwolf.bsky.social, founding AD of Chicago's Midsommer Flight, reveals how this summer's LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST is the perfect Shakespeare comedy for this moment. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/05/mids...
www.reducedshakespeare.com/2025/05/mids...
Reposted by Reduced Shakespeare Company
Looking for a great rainy day watch? 🌧️@austintichenor.bsky.social of @reduced.bsky.social Company revisits "Chimes at Midnight" as the film turns 60. 🔔 🎂 www.folger.edu/blogs/shakes...
"When somebody loved me": The tragedy of Chimes at Midnight | Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. Shakespeare belongs to you. His world is vast. Come explore. Jo...
www.folger.edu
May 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Looking for a great rainy day watch? 🌧️@austintichenor.bsky.social of @reduced.bsky.social Company revisits "Chimes at Midnight" as the film turns 60. 🔔 🎂 www.folger.edu/blogs/shakes...