1981: The Reduced Shakespeare Company begins as a pass-the hat act performing a twenty-minute version of Hamlet at Renaissance Faires outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco where the entertainment slots allow a maximum performance time of thirty minutes. The company develops a fast, funny, and physical performance style to keep their audiences from walking away. It works. Among those in the cast that first summer are the three performers who would come to be considered the "original" RSC - Daniel Singer (whose idea it all was in the first place), Jess Borgeson and Adam Long. Until 1987, the RSC performs only on weekends in the summer months at these faires.

1983: The RSC adds a short Romeo & Juliet to its repertoire at the Renaissance Faires.

1987: The first, one-hour version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (written by Borgeson, Long & Singer) premieres and the company performs it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The company thinks that this will be its swan song. Instead, interest in the RSC begins to snowball. Through 2001, the RSC will perform at eight more Edinburgh Fringe Festivals.

1988: The RSC begins to tour the United States. In order to make Shakespeare a full-length show, audience participation is added in the second act.

1989: The company tours the U.S. and performs at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and in Melbourne, Australia. Singer leaves the company to become an Imagineer for Disney and is replaced by Reed Martin, a UC Berkeley classmate of Borgeson and former Ringling Brothers clown. Martin contributes additional material to Shakespeare.

1991: With a six-week sold out season at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal, the RSC becomes a full-time gig, as the boys finally quit their day jobs. They now make a living with the RSC, but just barely. It only took ten years.
The company's first British tour, and its first London season - a December run at the Lillian Bayliss Theatre.

1991: The company tours to Tokyo and Ireland, as well as Britain and the U.S. They make their New York debut as part of the New York International Festival of the Arts.

1992: The RSC tours the U.S. and Singapore, as well as Perth and Adelaide, Australia. In March, the boys open their second season in London, this time at the Arts Theatre. The show runs eleven months. The boys provide voices for Steven Spielberg's animated film Balto.
Borgeson leaves the company and is replaced by Austin Tichenor, another UC Berkeley grad and classmate of Borgeson and Martin. Because he wears glasses, critics dub Tichenor "the smart one."

1993: The RSC premieres its second stage show - The Complete History of America (abridged) (written by Long, Martin, and Tichenor). They perform America at Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival, the American Repertory Theatre, and the Serious Fun Festival at Lincoln Center in New York. Tours of the U.S., Britain, and Israel.
The boys (Long/Martin/Tichenor) write and perform The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show - a six-part radio series for the BBC World Service. Nick Graham writes the music. It's released as a double-cassette on the Laughing Stock label.

1994: The company performs for eight sold-out weeks at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and also tours the U.S., Great Britain, and New Zealand. The boys become regular contributors to National Public Radio's All Things Considered, comically reducing news events.
Long cuts back on touring to stay in Britain with his English wife and English baby. Matt Croke - a former Ringling Brothers clownmate of Martin - steps into Long's role.
The RSC writes and performs its first TV show - The Ring Reduced (Long / Martin / Tichenor) - a thirty-minute condensation of Wagner's Ring Cycle for Britain's Channel Four.

1995: The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) (Long / Martin / Tichenor, additional material by Croke) premieres in July at the Kennedy Center. Bible and America run at the Kennedy Center for twelve sold-out weeks.
Long / Martin / Tichenor write - and with Croke perform - The Reduced Shakespeare Company Christmas, which is broadcast nationally in the U.S. on Public Radio International. It is also released as a CD.
The company breaks box office records at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre with a six-week run of America and Bible in repertory.
Long heads up a second company, specifically to perform in Great Britain. The new RSC U.K. undertakes a year-long British tour of Shakespeare and America.

1996: Bible is nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play. The RSC tours the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The RSC performs Bible in Jerusalem. Bible has its U.K. premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
In March the RSC U.K. opens at the Criterion Theatre in London performing Shakespeare and America in rep.
The script of Shakespeare is published in the U.S. by Applause Books. It is performed by countless professional and amateur companies all over the world, and translated into sixteen languages.

1997: Shakespeare is nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy - seventeen years after its inception. Bible opens for a limited run in London at the Gielgud Theatre in August. The RSC has three shows running in the West End at the same time - only one fewer than Andrew Lloyd Webber. An audio adaptation of Bible is released on cassette on the Magmaster label.
The RSC tours the U.S., including two-weeks at the Long Wharf Theatre. The company performs in Japan for the third time.

1998: The Reduced Shakespeare Company premieres its newest stage show The Complete Millennium Musical (abridged). It's written by Martin and Tichenor, who reunite with composer Graham. Croke leaves the company and is replaced by Dee Ryan, a Second City alumna and theatre colleague of Tichenor's. She contributes additional material to Millennium. The RSC finally has a "female" point of view. Unfortunately, it's Reed's.
The script of America is published by Broadway Play Publishing. Recordings of Radio Show andChristmas are released in the U.S. on the Audio Editions label. Bible is translated into German, Spanish, and Portugese.

1999 - 2002 & THE FUTURE
The company tours Millennium in the U.S., returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the eighth time, and peaks with long sitdowns at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
The RSC continues to develop a TV sketch show for London Weekend Television, and records and releases the original cast album of Millennium. Millennium tours the U.K. while Shakespeare and America continue their long run in London's Criterion Theatre.

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