Virginia Shakes opens 'Complete History'
The Virginia Shakespeare Festival opens the final production of its 30th Anniversary Season, The Complete History of America (abridged), by Adam Long, Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor on July 24th, directed by Artistic Director Christopher Owens. From the same authors as the Festival's 2005 smash hit production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), the comedy will reunite two of the original 2005 cast members—Karl Kippola and Matt McGloin ("the crazy Shakespeare guys" as our audiences came to call them)—with John Ammerman (the Festival's 2006 Macbeth) joining them. Fasten your seatbelts for an unforgettable evening of inspired lunacy performed at breakneck speed as these three hilarious guys turn the history of America into "slapstick merriment."
Complete History has been hailed by critics as "intellectual vaudeville … breathlessly paced" humor (New York Times)—"what the 'Daily Show' might be like if it were hosted by the Marx Brothers" (Boston Herald). Moving along their American history timeline depicting people and events from 1492 to the present with brilliant physical humor, the trio parodies, pokes fun, and transforms into
an array of mis-matched historical characters. We are introduced to representatives of Salem's
First Church of Tolerance and National Witchhunter's Association, and to Betsy Ross and Diana Ross as sisters. We are treated to a live, pantomime slide show of the Civil War, the Andrews Sisters bravely singing their way through World War I rather than World War II, and the Queen for a Day Game Show. With the 60's transformed into a Dr. Seuss rhyme, no event or political party throughout our history is spared—this is equal-opportunity humor! "It's like being trapped in history class on the last day of high school with the teacher out sick (or tied up in a locker) while the brightest and most irreverent kids gleefully skewer everything you ever learned." (Washington Post)
The Virginia Shakespeare Festival is a professional theatre company based on the campus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Complete History runs from July 24th to August 3rd on the main stage of Phi Beta Kappa Hall.
Tickets can now be purchased at the PBK Box Office, by telephone (757) 221-2674, or 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via the Virginia Shakespeare Festival website at www.wm.edu/vsf.
Box Office for the Virginia Shakespeare Festival at Phi Beta Kappa Hall, 601 Jamestown Road,
Williamsburg: Open Tuesdays—Saturdays, 10am—8pm, Sundays from 12 Noon—3pm.
Closed Mondays.
Tickets $23, Students $12. Special Group Rates of $18 per person for groups of 20 or more.
(757) 221-2674. Website: www.wm.edu/vsf
