The Complete History of America (Abridged)
Presented by CFCArts Theatre
By Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor
Orlando, FL
History puts most people to sleep, and the dates and treaties you memorized in high school don’t help. That’s why this show is so help full: it trades accuracy for memorability, and makes you want to rush right over to the wiki to lean more. We have three actors at our disposal; and I cleverly lost my program so take my word they have names. Our trio begins with the earliest crossing from Asia, which, while not that funny in themselves, give the cast a spring board to leap off. Extended segments include how Amerigo Vespucci got his name on two whole continents, WW2 fox holes fill with anachronistic entertainers, and there’s even a lighter side of the Civil War. There really no way I can pass these jokes along; I’ll just say three are so many happening so fast the fact they don’t all land washes away, like bad memories ancient wars. From time to time the audience gets drafted for some light comedy work, but mostly they just laughed. Amazingly, the show gets off a few current news cycle gags without alienating either half of the audience. Good work, guys and gal! Happily, no political careers were injured in the production of this rollicking comedy.
