Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company's 'The Complete History of America (Abridged)'

This madcap historical review was written by Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor, better known as the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC). The trio has concocted many "abridged" works since their enduring hit The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which CCTC toured in 2013.

These RSC shows are ideal for the company's free professional performances, held each July in parks in the greater Philadelphia area. They've produced six Shakespeare plays as well as works by Molière, Miravaux, Thornton Wilder, and George Bernard Shaw.

Old-fashioned comedy

Director Kristen Schier highlights the play's vaudeville roots, with dynamic performers Carlo Campbell, Robert Cutler, and Maggie O'Connor ad-libbing freely with timely and local references in the RSC tradition. From their eerily funny rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" — two counts off the beat — in which Campbell repeatedly attempts to kneel like an NFL player to the "happy ending" that tells American history in reverse, the show stays spontaneous, irreverent, and very, very silly.

Brian McCann designed the portable, yet sturdy and multifaceted, set. Aside from sound designer Daniel Ison's handful of musical cues, Asaki Kuruma's quick-change costume pieces, and Casey Berner's homemade props, the show is low-tech. When slides of pictures from the Civil War — the first war to be photographed — prove hilariously impossible to project, the cast recreates the poses.

The Complete History of America (Abridged) doesn't shy away from American history's grimmer parts, including the mistreatment of Native Americans and the Lincoln assassination (enacted with puppets), but it softens all, from the Salem Witch Trials to our many wars, with zany humor. RSC can't resist a few caustic shots at current events and, of course, the president.

Some innuendo (thankfully) soars over children's heads, like a reference to Hitler's "syphilitic rage" and how the revolutionary Minutemen were "better lovers than you might think." Anything objectionable flies by, buried by howlers — including a flag created by Betsy Ross and her sister Diana, classic groaners like the “two tents” joke, and silliness, such as World War I fought with squirt guns. If you don't get one joke, don't worry: the next comes immediately.

School's out, but...

While the cast's high-speed hijinx keep everyone laughing, real facts and serious themes poke through for those who choose to notice, though not enough to bother students on vacation from learning. A parody of a 1950s TV game show highlights how little we know about women from history, and pseudo radio drama uses heroes such as "Dodge Rambler" and "Rock Fury" to explore the 1930s and '40s.

O’Connor interrupts the timeline to question how limits to free speech work, and she recites a patriotic poem that morphs into an angry rap. Film references abound, from JFK and Citizen Kane to The Wizard of Oz and Dirty Dancing. The fantastic finale posits that North America might have been better off not being "discovered" by Europeans.

I was fortunate to see The Complete History of America (Abridged) in West Goshen Community Park's ideal outdoor amphitheater, the only location CCYC has visited for all 14 of its Free Theatre in the Park shows. Future performances range from Morris Arboretum to Brookhaven, Lansdale, and West Chester.