Photo credit: Mark Frohna
In Tandem’s All the Great Books (Abridged) is a comedic marathon for its performers and an absolute treat for viewers. As the audience takes on the role of students in a remedial literature class with just an hour and a half to absorb 89 classic works of literature before graduation, we enter a world of fast-paced storytelling and recognizable high school tropes.
As the indomitable Coach, Doug Jarecki is a whistle-tweeting, gym shorts-wearing hard ass with a heart of gold. He provides lots of little gems, including an explanation of the plot of Little Women using a baseball play diagram scrawled on a chalkboard. Ryan Schabach as the Drama Professor (with a degree from MATC), is pretentious, mincing and generally outré, superficially the Coach’s opposite in all things. Yet here, again, we find a passionate artist and educator with real desire to communicate great stories through outlandish theatrics. As the Student Teacher, Chris Goode is a hilarious cross between Valley boy and jock, whom the other two ridicule for his supposed stupidity, but who’s really the best read of the bunch.
All three of these actors are commendable for creating wildly different characters united by a shared love for their work expressed under the most ridiculous of circumstances. Their relaxed poise in circus-style physical comedy is a joy to behold. Kudos as well to deck crew member Catarina Erba who keeps the incredibly fast and elaborate costume and prop changes running smoothly.
The script from the Reduced Shakespeare Company was written in 2002 and is peppered with cultural references that director Chris Flieller and the rest of the In Tandem team have done a great job updating and bringing home to roost in Milwaukee. The script is also praiseworthy for its thoughtful yet lighthearted approach to weighty topics such as literary censorship and gender and racial politics within the canon.
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Rick Graham’s set design—a wacky dreamscape of an ill-funded high school multi-purpose room with slanted doors and a basketball hoop, as well as Kathy Smith’s costumes—attractive, versatile and ingeniously rigged for split-second changes—do much to bring this adventure through literature to life as well.
Through Oct. 29 at In Tandem’s Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets, call 414-271-1371 or visit intandemtheatre.org.
