The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)

Review

The Bible, Holy Scripture, eternal bestseller and sourcematerial for musicals, Hollywood blockbusters and many, many comedians. It's abig book to cram into two hours and even more of a challenge when you only have three actors to work with... but as always Humdrum step up to take on the challenge.

Some reading this will have been at The Spring in Havant when Humdrum took on the complete works of Shakespeare. An intrepid trio of performers wrestled the Bard's back catalogue into one evening of fun and now they're doing the same with the Bible.

As the lights dim a suitably epic soundtrack and booming voiceover lead into proceedings and immediately we hope the wardrobe budget runs to more than just fig leaves! Thankfully our fears are assuaged as the cast don biblical robes and immediately launch into the funniest, silliest and most entertaining two hours we're likely to spend in a theatre for some time.

This is, of course, a staple show in the Reduced Shakespeare Company repertoire, but given to British performers who have their own take on the script and their own performing style it becomes a very different beast.

It's clear early on that each performer has a fairly defined role in proceedings. James George acts as the straight-man and the fulcrum, Darren Gilmore is the rash, loud and showy performer, while Mikey Palmer will generally be the one in women's clothing. Between them we meet everyone from Abraham to Zachariah, by way of the likes of Goliath and Salome. Oh, and Jesus... they all play Jesus. At the same time.

We find out the commandments Moses convinced God to leave out... and we get shot with super-soakers as he parts the red sea. We meet Noah on his ark and half the audience end up on stage as animals (including a stunning trout impression!) and we even take our place at the last supper as numerous questions are answered, not least "why are all the apostles sat on one side of the table?"!

Sam Sampson had the unenviable task of corralling the insanity but wisely seems to have let the show grow organically and just steer it in the right direction. He plays to his performer's strengths, George wrestles with tongue-twisting lists of biblical verse, Darren consistently tries to one-up his colleagues and Mikey delivers some fantastic double takes. He also performs the dance of the seven veils.

Did we mention Mikey has a beard? It gives Salome, Mary, Eve and more a whole new dimension...

We could go on listing the laughs, the silliness and the brilliance of the show, but we wouldn't want to embarrass this humble "award winning" cast. So just hope and pray that they return to The Spring soon and take us through the oeuvre of the RSC once again!

Matt Merritt - inthecheapseats.co.uk

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If you want to be ambitious, and you've already done all of Shakespeare's plays (likewise abridged), then tackling the whole Bible in two-and-a-half hours is your obvious next step. Or at least that's what the HumDrum group thought.

With a cast of three, who are all on stage virtually the whole time, we get from Genesis to Revelations at breakneck speed.

The humour is more whimsical and questioning than outright satire, a la Life of Brian, but that's not to say it isn't funny. It is. Very.

James George represented the commonsense, occasional voice of reason, while Darren Gilmore was the Biblical literalist and the fullybearded Mikey Palmer played the fool - and all the women, from Eve to Mary and a distinctly unsettling Salome. With the fourth wall getting broken on a regular basis, the audience gets to feel very involved.

The highlights were plentiful, but The Tower of Babel, Abraham as Lincoln and all three vying to play Jesus stood out.

And there's a nice running joke about Gilmore's obsession with the story of Noah that culminates with members of the audience getting dragged on stage to play the animals in a rendition of Old MacNoah Had An Ark.

Full marks for the sound design - the Voice of God was a nice touch.

Sam Sampson directed with a light touch that let his trio shine.

Chris Broom - The News

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My first review for this Havant company, at their excellent venue, The Spring, proved to be well worth the trip down the M27.

The work, from the pens of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) playwrights Adam Long, Reed Hudson and Austin Tichenor is an hilarious dip into several areas of the holy book.

Essentially reverent, rather than irreverent, the crowd lapped it up.

James George, Darren Gilmore and Mikey Palmer had the audience in the palm of their hands from the first strains from Matt Mellor's keyboard.

Well, wearing just fig-leaves rather than palm-leaves if truth be told, as that was how they made their entrance, in a Garden of Eden scene.

Did Eve really have a beard?

The laughs came thick and fast throughout and audience participation was a key part, with a brilliant Noah's Ark themed Old Macdonald Had a Farm sing-along feature.

Sam Sampson directed - Genesis genius!

Alan John - Southern Daily Echo