Abridgd...Too Far! Season Trailer

Read below for all you need to know about Abridgd Too Far!

Fast, furious, funny and frequently infuriating to the aficionado, we present the literature’s most renowned and best-loved books in just 1,337 seconds. Missing a hell of a lot out, making stark narrative choices, chucking in a fair amount of jokes and using audio to its maximum potential, this is a breakneck comic canter through the classics.

The programme is introduced and narrated by Professor Ullard. They claim to be a professor of English Literature who has abridged these timeless works for the edification of a busy world that doesn’t have the time to read. However, in reality they are a pompous, philistine fool with a low opinion of dead authors and classic writing, an obsession with inconsequential details like word counts and anagrams and who just wants to get the whole thing over with as swiftly as possible.

Ullard’s versions of these masterpieces are acted out for us by their Twenty-Two Minute and Seventeen Second Classic Armchair Audio Theatre Company, which consists of a small (and madly versatile) regular cast of 6 actors, who play all the parts without stopping to take a breath. Because, in spite of the inherent comedy of the pace and haste, this absurd abridgement is a (more or less) faithful retelling of the book, in all its madly dramatic glory.

ABRIDGED - TOO FAR

So...like an Afternoon Play running to catch a train, The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The War of the Worlds and The Scarlet Letter will be boiled down, stripped back and sped up for the enjoyment of those listeners who may know the book but will enjoy a speedy re- acquaintance with it – or (far more likely) it will be for those of us who don’t know it because we’ve never had time in our busy lives to sit down and read it but sort of feel we should.

David Spicer (Writer / Co-Director) is an award-winning comedy writer whose work for BBC Radio 4 includes the sitcoms Double Income No Kids Yet, Three Off the Tee and Hennikay and the plays Kind Hearts & Coronets (Like Father Like Daughter), Kempton and the Duke and Munchausen. He has written for countless British TV shows and his stage plays have been performed in London and all over the UK. During the pandemic he wrote an acclaimed series of live streamed comedies, performed by socially distanced actors during lockdown

John Schwab (Producer / Co-Director) is an award-winning actor, director and producer. He has appeared on over 100 stages across the UK and half a dozen in the West End. He has directed numerous play readings and workshops including David Spicer’s West End debut “Stop! - The Play”. John has recently appeared on the small screen in Jack Ryan, The Diplomat, The Queen’s Gambit, Das Boot and many more. He’s also a successful games voice over artist. You can hear him as Dandelion in The Witcher franchise, Starlord in Lego Marvel and is the voice of Dove Men+ Plant-based Care. His podcast “The Curtain Call Podcast” is a NY Times top theatre podcast on BPN.

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