Controversial Bible show lands in Barnard Castle
A controversial comedy show that irreverently takes on life’s great theological questions is coming to the North East this month.
In a joint collaboration between Funny Way To Be Comedy Club and The Witham, the Reduced Shakespeare Company will be visiting Barnard Castle for the very first time on Saturday 15 March (7.30pm).
The company’s new show, The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged), has hit the headlines in recent weeks after being banned in Belfast – before the venue performed a U-turn and allowed the show to go ahead.
Ahead of the show in Barnard Castle, Austin Tichenor, of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, insists the ban was not justified.
Tichenor said: “Our very first show was The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged). Our second show was The Complete History of America (abridged).
“We had written those two shows and an Israeli television company had asked us to reduce the Bible to a 30 minute film, but like so many television projects it just never happened.
“But we were performing at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC and they said, ‘You’ve done a show on Shakespeare, a show on politics – what are you going to do next?’ And we thought, ‘Oh yeah, religion – that seems doable.’
“When we sit down to pick a show, it has to be about something that we love because we spend years of our lives – and in the case of the Bible, decades – creating it and honing it and changing it to fit the current mood or whatever.
“The bible is part of our tradition and the show is our way of celebrating it.”
Since 1981, The Reduced Shakespeare Company have created eight stage shows, two television specials, several failed TV pilots and numerous radio pieces.
The company’s first three shows, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged) and The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) enjoyed a nine-year run at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus.
Prior to their 2013 tour the RSC were last seen in the UK with their Complete World of Sports (abridged) which toured the country before completing a season in London’s West End during the 2012 Olympics.
Peter Dixon, of Funny Way To Be Comedy Club, said: “The idea to bring the Reduced Shakespeare Company to Barnard Castle came about when I interviewed the cast for Radio Teesdale.
“But without The Witham that would have been impossible, so we joined forces with the Witham team so we could bring this top company to Barnard Castle.
“I’ve seen them several times at festivals and they have always been a massive hit with the audiences.
“This particular show, simply because it tackles the Bible in a comedic way, has cause controversy in some quarters, but it’s more a celebration of the good book than poking fun at people’s beliefs.”
Tickets for The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) are on general sale now from funnywaytobe.com, priced £15.
