The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s version of American history begins not at the beginning, but before the beginning even began. The three actors Mike, Dustin, and Jeff reminded the audience that the population of the North American continent began 12,000 to 50,000 years ago, and demonstrated that fact by showing a giant timeline and acting out the Crow Indian story of creation. There was a quick skit about Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America was named, then the story jumped to the colonization of America, the Revolution, and the Lewis and Clark expeditions. They then progressed to the year 1814, during which the War of 1812 took place, and to the Civil War. The skits were peppered with sexual innuendo, such as “American” being rearranged to “I Can Ream”, and the audience had the honor of listening to Dustin’s poem/rap about the thirteen colonies. The trio of actors mocked the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” and after the Revolution, they attempted to come up with a new American flag and a more modern national anthem. The assassination of Lincoln was even depicted, with a drawn-on balloon playing the part of Lincoln’s head.

  Act Two started with Mike, Dustin, and Jeff in the trenches during World War I. After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the actors did a radio show to inform the audience about the Prohibition, Al Capone, FDR, World War II, and the atom bomb. They did a segment called “Queen for a Day,” in which the audience was to identify famous women of the feminist movement.

  The performance was a “Special Election Edition,” so a question-and-answer session followed the feminist movement. Senators Obama and McCain were asked questions by the audience, including a question about “the beer shortage at universities” and the infamous “Kirk or Picard” question. An audience member pointed out that the performers had skipped 50 years between the Civil War and World War I. The response was a skit about post-World War II America, in which a detective navigates the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the psychedelic ‘60s, Watergate, détente, the Reagan administration, and the Berlin Wall in order to find out what happened to his missing brother. The performance ended with President Bush and Dick Cheney declaring War on Terror.

  Even when the subject matter was dark, the actors had plenty of jokes to lighten the mood. They often jumped out of character to make the audience laugh (“The longer she talked, the more I realized that Dustin had no idea how to do a Vietnamese accent”) and were very adept at keeping the audience engaged. The performance was one that will not soon be forgotten, and the audience’s evening was definitely well-spent. Thank you to the sponsors of the Performing Arts Series and to everyone who attended the show.