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The Complete ABRIGED History of America
600 years of history in 6000 seconds … history will never be the same! From Washington to Watergate, yea verily from the Bering Straits to Baghdad, from New World to New World Order — THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (abridged) is a ninety-minute rollercoaster ride through the glorious quagmire that is American History, reminding us that it's not the length of your history that matters — it's what you've done with it!
Paperback
First published June 1, 1999
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About the author
Adam Long
27 books21 followersAdam Long is an American actor, screenwriter, writer, and director based in London, England, as well as a founding member of The Reduced Shakespeare Company. From 1987 to 2003 he co-wrote and performed "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)", "The Complete History of America (abridged)", "The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show" for the BBC World Service, and "The Ring Reduced", a 30 minute condensation of Wagner's Ring Cycle for Channel 4 television.
In 1996, Long directed the Reduced Shakespeare Company's London production of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" which was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 1997, and ran for 9 years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. Stage production licensing in the U S and Canada is by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Long left The Reduced Shakespeare Company in 2003. He then co-wrote and starred in The Barn, an independent feature film which won a British Independent Film Award in 2004 - The Raindance Award, for the film which best embodies the spirit of independent filmmaking. In 2006, he wrote and performed Star Wars Shortened for Sky Movies, and The Condensed History of Tony Blair for BBC Radio 4. In 2007 he wrote and directed Dickens Unplugged, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was brought to Guildford in February, 2007, and made its West End debut on May 23, 2008 at the Comedy Theatre. It has been published as Dickens (abridged) by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. In 2008, he wrote and performed The Condensed History of Political Parties for BBC Radio 4, and in 2009 The Condensed History of George W Bush, also for BBC Radio 4.
From 2008 to the present, Adam has worked extensively in animation, writing for Netflix, CBBC, CBeebies, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Sprout. He is the voice of Mr. Small in seasons 2 to 6 of the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning animated series The Amazing World of Gumball. He has also provided voices for Elliott from Earth.
Adam Long currently resides in London.
In 1996, Long directed the Reduced Shakespeare Company's London production of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" which was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 1997, and ran for 9 years at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. Stage production licensing in the U S and Canada is by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Long left The Reduced Shakespeare Company in 2003. He then co-wrote and starred in The Barn, an independent feature film which won a British Independent Film Award in 2004 - The Raindance Award, for the film which best embodies the spirit of independent filmmaking. In 2006, he wrote and performed Star Wars Shortened for Sky Movies, and The Condensed History of Tony Blair for BBC Radio 4. In 2007 he wrote and directed Dickens Unplugged, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was brought to Guildford in February, 2007, and made its West End debut on May 23, 2008 at the Comedy Theatre. It has been published as Dickens (abridged) by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. In 2008, he wrote and performed The Condensed History of Political Parties for BBC Radio 4, and in 2009 The Condensed History of George W Bush, also for BBC Radio 4.
From 2008 to the present, Adam has worked extensively in animation, writing for Netflix, CBBC, CBeebies, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Sprout. He is the voice of Mr. Small in seasons 2 to 6 of the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning animated series The Amazing World of Gumball. He has also provided voices for Elliott from Earth.
Adam Long currently resides in London.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 1, 2022
Really did not age well. Some parts were very funny, but it was hard to look past the racism and sexism (no matter how well intentioned)
July 18, 2019
I had high hopes for this script as I adore The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). But, this just isn't funny. For one thing, it's incredibly dated and they do allow for adjustments. But the jokes, and the "history" aren't funny. Maybe it would be better seeing it or performing it live. I'm just not impressed. I'm always looking for scripts to produce or direct. This won't be one of them.
November 16, 2020
A very funny show that was a blast to perform. Although, it was clear that this show does not age well with the coming of the times for some of the jokes, although that could easily be mended.
July 12, 2010
"And you may say that I'm a moron, and I say to you, yes. But I'm a moron with a dream, and that, my friends, is the most dangerous kind of moron." (p. 3)
Thus ends an extensively rambling, incoherent, and hysterical rant that opens this silly (in a good way) show. If you've never seen the Reduced Shakespeare Company, you really owe it to yourself to get out to one of their performances at the first available opportunity. They're kind of like the Flying Karamazov brothers only with less props. If they don't make stops to any theaters near you, see if you can get a hand on any of their relatively recently published playscripts (or better still, their radio program as a book-on-CD).
"America" is a mixed bag, actually. I couldn't stop laughing through the 5-star first act, though the second act was a lot more hit-and-miss. Structurally, about half of Act One is done as a vaudeville starring that wacky duo Lewis & Clark, while Act Two more or less divides its time between a "radio show" (shades of Prairie Home Companion here) and a film noir Sam Spade romp (even more shades of Prairie Home Companion here, a la "Guy Noir"). The downside to the latter (and this is really only a light critique), is that RSC is of necessity painting with an extremely broad brush -- in fact, that's more or less the joke -- but their brush is more or less entirely one of Howard Zinn's manufacture. The resulting impression is one of an unnuanced anti-American screed; all imperialist genocide, rampaging racism, and xenophobia driven by institutionalized capitalist corruption, yet without the depth, analysis, specific examples, and exceptions that would help such a critique to resonate.
Even the authors seem to recognize they may have taken this too far, as the script anticipates the likelihood of (and proposes snappy comebacks to) many boo-generating lines, and at page 90, outright apologizes for having "the show end on such a down note." Their way around this is to tack on a "happy ending," one that is a literal rewinding of American history and thereby undoing all damage and mayhem purportedly inflicted by the USA and its political progenitors (e.g., "1604: Slave trade disappears." Ummm... not really, and not even the African version of it, which had its origins much earlier)?! Perhaps this worked better on stage (I saw this show in the mid-'90s, but can't remember what, if any, lasting impression it made), but on the printed page the aftertaste is sour, indeed.
Still, this show is on the whole and on par with their Shakespeare (abridged) original, much zanier and funnier than their Bible show and it's surely unfair for me to read too critically into what is, after all, intended to be taken lightly. As the authors are only too willing themselves to point out, "There are a lot of things we love about America, and I'd like to mention a few of them now: Sean Connery, the Beatles, and Canada." With doofiness such as this, it's not hard to forgive them a bit of negativity.
Thus ends an extensively rambling, incoherent, and hysterical rant that opens this silly (in a good way) show. If you've never seen the Reduced Shakespeare Company, you really owe it to yourself to get out to one of their performances at the first available opportunity. They're kind of like the Flying Karamazov brothers only with less props. If they don't make stops to any theaters near you, see if you can get a hand on any of their relatively recently published playscripts (or better still, their radio program as a book-on-CD).
"America" is a mixed bag, actually. I couldn't stop laughing through the 5-star first act, though the second act was a lot more hit-and-miss. Structurally, about half of Act One is done as a vaudeville starring that wacky duo Lewis & Clark, while Act Two more or less divides its time between a "radio show" (shades of Prairie Home Companion here) and a film noir Sam Spade romp (even more shades of Prairie Home Companion here, a la "Guy Noir"). The downside to the latter (and this is really only a light critique), is that RSC is of necessity painting with an extremely broad brush -- in fact, that's more or less the joke -- but their brush is more or less entirely one of Howard Zinn's manufacture. The resulting impression is one of an unnuanced anti-American screed; all imperialist genocide, rampaging racism, and xenophobia driven by institutionalized capitalist corruption, yet without the depth, analysis, specific examples, and exceptions that would help such a critique to resonate.
Even the authors seem to recognize they may have taken this too far, as the script anticipates the likelihood of (and proposes snappy comebacks to) many boo-generating lines, and at page 90, outright apologizes for having "the show end on such a down note." Their way around this is to tack on a "happy ending," one that is a literal rewinding of American history and thereby undoing all damage and mayhem purportedly inflicted by the USA and its political progenitors (e.g., "1604: Slave trade disappears." Ummm... not really, and not even the African version of it, which had its origins much earlier)?! Perhaps this worked better on stage (I saw this show in the mid-'90s, but can't remember what, if any, lasting impression it made), but on the printed page the aftertaste is sour, indeed.
Still, this show is on the whole and on par with their Shakespeare (abridged) original, much zanier and funnier than their Bible show and it's surely unfair for me to read too critically into what is, after all, intended to be taken lightly. As the authors are only too willing themselves to point out, "There are a lot of things we love about America, and I'd like to mention a few of them now: Sean Connery, the Beatles, and Canada." With doofiness such as this, it's not hard to forgive them a bit of negativity.
February 12, 2024
had the pleasure of being in this show and I think about it at least once a day<3
November 28, 2019
Overall, because of my history of reading plays rather than seeing them, I have high expectations with how a play should look and feel when read. I should be able to get as much of an emotion from a play reading it as I should seeing it live. Although this play did give me a good laugh, it heavily relied on action, movement, and props, which affected how I imagined it as a reader and made it more difficult to read. HOWEVER, despite this road block, it did give me insight on America’s history and what I know and do not know, and what WASN'T taught to me in school.
Reading it now, I would recommend you SEE the play yourself rather than READ it. I bet there's even some clips of it on YouTube. But, if that is not an option for you for whatever reason, the play is hilarious on its own.
Reading it now, I would recommend you SEE the play yourself rather than READ it. I bet there's even some clips of it on YouTube. But, if that is not an option for you for whatever reason, the play is hilarious on its own.
October 29, 2013
Although the authors' humor can become crude at times, this play was a very entertaining read. I hope I get the chance to see it performed some time--although I enjoyed simply reading it out loud for fun. :)
March 11, 2014
I am looking for a spring play for my high school.
April 12, 2008
Hahahahahahaha!
July 30, 2011
A wonderfully clever romp through American history by the ever entertaining and witty RSC.
February 21, 2015
fun, goofy take... not quite as consistently clever as compleat works but some genius moments!
September 13, 2016
Hilarious. Period. .
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews