Last updated 11:25, Friday, 21 November 2008

According to Reduced Shakespeare Company cast member Jack Bennett, around a dozen vicars have been to see their show, The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged).

Spreading the word: The Reduced Shakespeare Company

“One even asked us if he could use some of it in his sermon on Sunday. But we had to remind him that ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” he quips.

With gags like that, off-stage in the middle of the day, you can tell this is one dedicated performer.

But it’s a good thing he is, as the comedy troupe are in the midst of a huge UK tour, including a date at Whitehaven’s Rosehill Theatre on Tuesday.

Taking inspiration from past performers such as the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Buster Keaton, the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform irreverent comedy “for the quick of mind and the short of time”, and previous shows include, naturally, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), and The Complete History of America (abridged).

The hit shows ran for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in the West End, becoming London’s longest-running comedies, and the company has toured the world, performing in the USA, Europe, Israel, Bermuda, Barbados, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

In The Bible...the audience is taken on a rollercoaster ride which covers everything from fig leaves to the Final Judgement in just over 90 minutes.

“It’s three idiots using humour to tell an important story,” Jack explains. “And it’s a big story to tell in 90 minutes. He was a prolific writer, that God guy. Or should I say woman.

“There are four members of the cast, but three go on each night. As we are all men, one of us has to play the women. Guess who that lucky person is?

“There’s a lot to do: wig wearing, beard wearing, giving birth to Jesus – now that’s pretty tiring, doing that every night. We run about a lot and think of it as a 90 minute sprint. But none of us are the fittest of guys, so it’s a bit more sweaty...”

And he says the show is for everyone, religious or not.

He adds: “We are certainly not trying to offend anyone, whatever their religion. The vicars who have come have certainly all enjoyed it. After all, we are helping to put God in the spotlight, in our own tongue-in-cheek but respectful way.”

The Bible – The Complete Word of God (Abridged), presented by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, is at Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven, on Tuesday at 7.30pm.

Tickets £16 (£14 concessions), available by calling 01946 692422.