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The Complete History of Theatre (abridged) (One-Act Version)

It's opening night, and master playwright William Shakespeare, theatrical diva Sarah Bernhardt and the indelible intellectual Constantine Stanislavsky lead you on a wild and wacky journey through the history of theatre from Aristophanes to Emile Zola.

  • One Act
  • Comedy
  • 45 minutes

  • Target Audience: Pre-Teen (Age 11 - 13), Teen (Age 14 - 18), Appropriate for all audiences

  • Performance Group:
  • Dinner Theatre, Community Theatre, Jr High/Primary, High School/Secondary, College Theatre / Student
It's opening night, and master playwright William Shakespeare, theatrical diva Sarah Bernhardt and the indelible intellectual Constantine Stanislavsky lead you on a wild and wacky journey through the history of theatre from Aristophanes to Emile Zola.

This crazy cast of characters will transport you back in time as we relive the various elements of theatre from all parts of the globe. Explore the beginnings of Greek Theatre, Aristotle's Poetics, the fine art of Kabuki, the history of mime, the gladiators of Rome and speculation on the real author of Shakespeare's plays. Along the way, the bumbling Shakespeare misquotes himself, Sarah Bernhardt can't get over the sound of thunderous applause and Stanislavsky gets blown out of a cannon when someone says the name of "the Scottish play" in the theatre!

Through a little perseverance and commedia dell'arte, the famous trifecta attempt to hold the show together, but when the producer appears onstage, things only get worse when the cast finds out they are trapped in a play within a play. With time running out on the theatre's rental agreement, the trifecta pays homage to the world's best-known and beloved plays and musicals by alluding to dialogue from Edward Albee, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Noel Coward, Anton Chekov, Caryl Churchill, Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Miller, David Mamet, Harold Pinter, Sarah Ruhl, Sam Shepard, Neil Simon, August Strindberg, August Wilson, Thornton Wilder, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Oscar Wilde and many more all performed at breakneck speed.

Near the play's end, the cast realizes that the playwright hasn't written an ending, wherein our iconic celebrities are forced to seek the audience's help in finding a creative conclusion to the show. Just when it appears that all the drama is behind them, the reviews come in, and what the critics say surprises them. This interactive farce will keep you in stitches as every turn on a rollicking ride!

REVIEWS:

"Madcap and pretty bonkers, yet strangely authoritative."

 San Diego Union-Tribune

"Will appeal to drama geeks and anyone in the mood for old-fashioned wacky entertainment."

 TalkinBroadway.com

"Slapstick reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch."

 TalkinBroadway.com

"Let legendary theatrical characters such as William Shakespeare and Constantin Stanislavsky entertain and inform you on your journey through the world's best-known lines and beloved plays performed at breakneck speed during a rollicking 90-minute ride."

 TheatreinSanDiego.com

"A rapid-paced, well-coordinated, fast and furious, no-time-to-take-a-breath shout-out of all the works of Simon, Williams and Pinter. The amazing show of aptitude and agility is worth the price of the ticket."

 San Diego Examiner

"Theater magic happens, as the troupe makes their lightening-fast way through thousands of years of playwrights, from Aeschylus to Albee, Ionesco to Woody Allen, Strindberg to Sondheim, Ibsen to August Wilson."

 KNSD Radio

  • Casting: 2M, 1F, 10M or F

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The Complete History of Theatre (abridged) (One-Act Version) Script This is optional. Order Now

It's opening night, and master playwright William Shakespeare, theatrical diva Sarah Bernhardt and the indelible intellectual Constantine Stanislavsky lead you on a wild and wacky journey through the history of theatre from Aristophanes to Emile Zola.

This crazy cast of characters will transport you back in time as we relive the various elements of theatre from all parts of the globe. Explore the beginnings of Greek Theatre, Aristotle's Poetics, the fine art of Kabuki, the history of mime, the gladiators of Rome and speculation on the real author of Shakespeare's plays. Along the way, the bumbling Shakespeare misquotes himself, Sarah Bernhardt can't get over the sound of thunderous applause and Stanislavsky gets blown out of a cannon when someone says the name of "the Scottish play" in the theatre!

Through a little perseverance and commedia dell'arte, the famous trifecta attempt to hold the show together, but when the producer appears onstage, things only get worse when the cast finds out they are trapped in a play within a play. With time running out on the theatre's rental agreement, the trifecta pays homage to the world's best-known and beloved plays and musicals by alluding to dialogue from Edward Albee, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Noel Coward, Anton Chekov, Caryl Churchill, Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Miller, David Mamet, Harold Pinter, Sarah Ruhl, Sam Shepard, Neil Simon, August Strindberg, August Wilson, Thornton Wilder, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Oscar Wilde and many more all performed at breakneck speed.

Near the play's end, the cast realizes that the playwright hasn't written an ending, wherein our iconic celebrities are forced to seek the audience's help in finding a creative conclusion to the show. Just when it appears that all the drama is behind them, the reviews come in, and what the critics say surprises them. This interactive farce will keep you in stitches as every turn on a rollicking ride!

$19.95