With so much material and so little time, it's rough being a high-school teacher. I remember a world-history class in which the entire 20th century was covered in one week. Fortunately, that's where California's Reduced Shakespeare Company steps in, having developed All the Great Books (abridged), a comic play that covers 89 of the most highly esteemed works in the history of literature in roughly 90 minutes (with intermission). In Tandem Theatre begins its season with a production of the popular comedy on Oct. 9 at the Tenth Street Theatre.
Making his Milwaukee debut, R. Chris Reeder stars as the "drama professor" who takes it upon himself to teach the "class" (that's the audience) everything it needs to know about literature in order to graduate. Reeder, currently based out of Madison, formerly served as artistic director of the St. Croix Festival Theatre. He's bright and charming, with a presence that should readily transfer to the stage.
Reeder's professor is aided by a student-teacher played by Kevin Rich. The talented Rich will arrive at opening night of Great Books just four days after completing a turn as Berowne in Milwaukee Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. Working in rehearsals for one show while appearing in a major role in another isn't easy, but In Tandem co-founder Chris Flieller says he has faith in Rich-in fact, Flieller, who is directing the show, says he wouldn't have tried such an arrangement with any other actor.
Doug Jarecki rounds out the trio of characters as a gym coach who aids the other two in this dizzying presentation. Refreshingly, the script veers away from the dumb-jock stereotype for this role. All in all, there seems to be more character work than one might expect from a rapid-fire comedy that covers as much ground as Great Books. With extensive experience in sketch comedy, Jarecki should prove to be a good fit for this production.
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All the Great Books is an intricate, fast-paced comedy that demands precision from each of the actors. Though these three have never worked together before, they all give off a witty, comic energy that should be a great deal of fun to watch.
All the Great Books (abridged) runs through Oct. 26 at the Tenth Street Theatre. For more information, call (414) 271-1371 or go to www.intandemtheatre.com/GreatBooks.html.
