Reduced Shakespeare Co Announces WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (ABRIDGED)

The "Bad Boys of Abridgment" are back! Uproarious and rapid-fire, the Reduced Shakespeare Company makes sharp, short comedy in their latest sendup, William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged). Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England (next to a pile of bones that didn't look that important), an ancient manuscript proves to be the literary holy grail-the long-lost first play written by none other than seventeen-year-old William Shakespeare! William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) makes its off-Broadway premiere at The New Victory Theater, opening on March 2 and playing through March 11, 2018, as part of a 20-city tour throughout the United States.

"We have had this checked and verified. There are six surviving examples of Shakespeare's handwriting. This is clearly written in all six of Shakespeare's hands," says Austin Tichenor.

"We brought it to the Folger Shakespeare Library, which holds the largest collection of Shakespeare crap in the world. And as they were showing us the exit, they assured us that this was unlike anything they have in their collection," adds Reed Martin. The production premiered in 2016 at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Using questionable scholarship and street-performer smarts, playwrights Martin and Tichenor spin the Bard's 39 plays into a fast, funny and fictional 40th in a brand new story. William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) pits Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream against Ariel of The Tempest, turning Shakespeare's canon upside-down and creating such strange bedfellows as Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Viola, Richard III, King Lear, the Weird Sisters and (of course) Dromio and Juliet.

Co-writers and co-directors Martin and Tichenor also perform in the show and are joined on stage by co-star Teddy Spencer. Together, Martin and Tichenor have co-authored Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged), the comic e-book memoir How The Bible Changed Our Lives (Mostly For The Better) and the stage comedies America, Bible, Western Civilization, All The Great Books, Hollywood, Sports, Christmas and Comedy-all (abridged). Their latest literary endeavor, Pop-Up Shakespeare, illustrated by Jennie Maizels, was recently released in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

Last seen at The New Victory in The Complete World of Sports (abridged) in 2011 and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) in 2010, Reduced Shakespeare Company has also created two television specials and numerous radio pieces. The company's first three shows, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged) and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) ran for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus as London's longest-running comedies.

Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) has performed Off-Broadway, at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London's West End, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theater and Montreal's famed Just For Laughs Festival. The RSC has 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. RSC scripts are published in the United States and United Kingdom, and translated into over a dozen languages. The RSC Radio Show, RSC Christmas, and Bible (abridged) are all available on CD and from iTunes. The Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast is the second longest-running theatre podcast (now in its 12th year!), one of the Top Ten Podcasts for Theater Fans (according to BroadwayWorld), and "a bright breezy entertaining affair, well stocked with interviews, features and excerpts from the shows!" (according to The Telegraph).

Learn more about William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) on the New Victory website.

Performance schedule (10 performances):

• Friday, March 2 at 7pm
• Saturday, March 3 at 2pm / 7pm
• Sunday, March 4 at 12pm / 5pm*
• Friday, March 9 at 7pm**
• Saturday, March 10 at 2pm / 7pm
• Sunday, March 11 at 12pm / 5pm

*audio-described performance **sign-interpreted performance

William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) has a running time of 1 hour and 40 minutes including one intermission, and is recommended for everyone ages 10 and up.

Ticket Information

Full-price tickets for William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) start at $16. Tickets are available online (http://www.newvictory.org/boxoffice) and by phone (646.223.3010).

To purchase tickets in person, the New Victory box office is located at 209 West 42nd Street (between 7th / 8th Avenues). Box office hours are Sunday & Monday from 11am-5pm and Tuesday through Saturday from 12pm-7pm.

About The New Victory Theater
The New Victory Theater brings kids to the arts and the arts to kids. Created in 1995 on iconic 42nd Street, this nonprofit theater has become a standard-bearer of quality performing arts for young audiences in the United States. Reflecting and serving the diverse city it calls home, The New Victory is committed to arts access for all students, teachers, kids, families and communities of New York to experience and engage with the exemplary international programming of theater, dance, circus, puppetry and more on its stages. A leader in arts education, youth employment and audience engagement, The New Victory Theater has been honored by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities with the 2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, by Americans for the Arts with a National Arts Education Award, and by the Drama Desk for "providing enchanting, sophisticated children's theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people."

About The New 42nd Street
Founded in 1990, The New 42nd Street is an independent nonprofit organization charged with the continuous cultural revival of 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, building on the foundation of seven historic theaters to make extraordinary performing arts and cultural engagement part of everyone's life. The New 42nd Street fulfills this purpose by ensuring the ongoing vibrancy of 42nd Street's historic theaters; supporting performing artists in the creation of their work at the New 42nd Street Studios and The Duke on 42nd Street; creating arts access and education at The New Victory Theater, New York's premier theater for kids and families; and through the New 42nd Street Youth Corps, its model youth development initiative, which pairs life skills workshops and mentorship with paid employment in the arts for NYC youth. Inspired by the city it serves, The New 42nd Street is committed to the transformational power of the arts.