Showcasing The Bible: The Complete Word Of God (Abridged), The Reduced Shakespeare Company took Bradford on “a journey towards enlightenment and inner peace” when it visited St George’s Hall as part of their UK tour where Leo Owen caught the show
“In the beginning there was chaos” and to signify this the RSC use light flashes on a darkened stage to reveal two near naked actors wearing fig leaves of varying size, all set to the 2001: A Space Odyssey music. Instantly setting the tone, a stern God-like voice-over announces: “And lo the RSC did put their clothes on and the audience was well-pleased.”
Richard Ede, Gary Fannin and Will Meredith appear in simple tunics of varying colours with matching trousers. A three panel stage backdrop depicts the famous Sistine Chapel “The Creation of Adam” painting. The show relies on additional props and simple costume changes to signify the different books of the bible; there’s a10 Commandments costume accompanied by a rejected commandments tablet, topically including “Thou shalt now seek independence if you’re frying Mars Bars.” A Bob Marley outfit is used for “Jonah and The Wailers” and a giant pink bunny costume symbolises the resurrection. The Last Supper is particularly cleverly portrayed using a painted sheet with cut out heads so that actors frantically run between head holes playing multiple parts while one remains as Jesus throughout.
As in the RSC’s trademarks The Reduced Works Of William Shakespeare, music and song play a large part of the show. There’s a bluesy song about God dividing and “letting there be light” with guitar, saxophone and tambourine. A “seven days” song, another explaining how to tell Elijah and Elisha apart and a randomly placed “Old McNoah had an ark…” audience participation number.
The best gags are Stewart Francis style one liners, linking biblical references to popular culture and current affairs. One Commandment decrees “Every pet on the planet shall have its own stupid page on Facebook”; there is a Peter Gabriel Genesis joke; Gabriel and Jacob’s WWF style match involves Jacob’s “ladder”; in the battle between David and Goliath “David’s Triumph [motorbike] was heard throughout the land”; Jesus’ miracles are presented as magic tricks; Saint Bernard pants like a dog; Pilate dresses with a Biggles’ style hat and Jude “[can] take a sad song and make it better”. Less successful jokes often involve cast members bantering: “What’s the difference between Justin Bieber and a bucket of crap? The bucket”; although, their goofy interactions are used well at times to deliver punchlines (“Computers were in the garden of Eden?… Eve had an apple.”) One of the best gags involves a recital of the funniest sections of Job, resulting in dimming lights and an accompanying silence.
Anyone who’s seen The RSC before will be able to recognise how formulaic their shows actually are. The Complete Works Of Shakespeare opens with the audience being asked how many plays we’ve seen, read… while The Bible asks us to admit whether we’ve ever read any portion of the bible. Photocopies of Jesus’ genealogy and chunks of bread are thrown from the stage, while a water soaker is used to cleanse us with holy water. Late arriving audience members are amusingly directly addressed (“Can I get you anything… Like a watch?”) and after the interval the show starts with an amplified discussion between the cast back stage, pretending to be unaware that the second half has already begun.
There’s lots of sexual innuendo, (God asking for foreskins to make “a wallet [that when rubbed] will turn into a suitcase”) and very light social commentary (“Why do all fundamentalists have no sense of humour?”). There’s a voice-overed God whose favours can be bought and sold and is controversially portrayed as expecting us to sacrifice and suffer. Overall, although enjoyable and undeniably funny, the show feels a little self-indulgent and juvenile at times, fleshed out with tenuously linked one liners and audience participation, merely listing other huge chunks of the bible rather than delving further.