Performer/Writer/Managing Partner Reed Martin is a native of Sonoma. Prior to joining the RSC in 1989, he was a clown with Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus where he “spent two years frightening children and smelling of elephants.” The RSC brings its latest romp, Completely Hollywood (abridged), to the Sebastiani Theatre this weekend. See Feb. 12 listing for details
The Sun: If Shakespeare were alive today, would he be writing movie scripts?
Reed Martin: The RDC has always asserted that if The Bard were alive today that he’d be kicking and screaming inside his coffin. But assuming Shakespeare found his way out of the grave and got hold of some digital quill and parchment, I think he’d watch the movie “West Side Story” and be inspired to remove the music and write something along the lines of “Romeo and Juliet.”
Sun: What were some of the challenges in putting the show together?
RM: It’s tough condensing the 175 greatest movies of all time into a two-hour stage show. So what we did was cut out all the minor characters and unimportant subplots to get right to the sex and killing, which is what really sells.
Sun: If you could recast one classic movie, which one would it be?
RM: I would recast “My Dinner with Andre,” which originally featured Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory sitting in a restaurant and blathering unintelligibly for two hours. I’d replace Andre Gregory with Andre The Giant. With Andre the Giant it would still be unintelligible, but there’d be a lot more action.
Sun: What do you love about the movies?
RM: I love films where I get to see the actors stretching themselves, doing things they are not necessarily good at. Like Clint Eastwood singing. Or Keanu Reeves acting.
Sun: What genre is the easiest target for laughs? The hardest?
RM: The more serious the movie, the easier it is to poke fun at it. Making comedy about a movie that is already comic is tougher.
Sun: What’s the formula for a good movie script?
RM: We discovered that every new movie is just a combination of two old movies. Like Hollywood combined “My Fair Lady” and “Klute” to get “Pretty Woman.” So in the show we propose some combination movies we’d like to see, like “Snow White and the Seven Samurai” and “When Dirty Harry Met Sally.”
Sun: After the Sonoma shows, where will you next perform “Completely Hollywood (abridged)?”
RM: We are booked to perform the show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for three weeks beginning in late June.
Sun: Did the cast fight over the Bette Davis ‘fasten your seat belts’ line?
RM: ‘Fasten your seat belts’ was nothing. We bombed each other’s homes for the chance to say, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning’.”
Sun: Are you working on any new projects at the moment?
RM: We just reduced the first five seasons of the TV show “Lost” for Sky TV in London. And we are working on our next stage show, “The Complete World of Sports (abridged),” which will premiere later this year. Folks can find all of our tour dates, as well as all the latest RSC propaganda, at www.reducedshakespeare.com
Sun: What movie title best sums up the RSC?
RM: Ishtar.
