A new touring version of the West End classic, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) will be visiting Exeter’s Northcott Theatre later this week.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) will be performing this classic comic masterpiece at the venue with two performances on May 12 and 13 .

With this fast, furious and gloriously absurd sprint through all of the Bard’s tragedies, comedies and histories, audiences can expect Hamlet performed backwards, Titus Andronicus as a YouTube cooking tutorial, and all of the History plays turned into a chaotic football match where the crown is kicked from king to king.

Throw in lightning-fast costume changes, sword fights, outrageous improvisation and the result is a wildly inventive and hilarious celebration of Shakespeare.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1987 in a church basement. From there, the RSC was invited to perform in Montreal, Tokyo, New York and London. After several world tours, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) landed at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus where it ran for nine years.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) team also hold two Guinness World Records. The highest altitude Shakespearean performance - 37,000 feet aboard an EasyJet flight from London to Verona in April 2014, and the longest-running Shakespeare play (West End) – notching up 3,744 performances from its opening night on 7 March 1996 until it closed on 3 April 2005.

The production is a new partnership between The Theatre Chipping Norton, and Selladoor Worldwide, an established commercial producer with an excellent track record in high-end entertainment.

Together, these two organisations are working closely with the founder members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and the original writers to bring a new, refreshed version of this comedy theatre classic to contemporary audiences.

Tickets for the 7.30pm shows can be booked at https://exeternorthcott.co.uk.