Centuries of absurdity, just in time for the 250th
There’s a moment Lawrence Lesher keeps returning to when he talks about directing the latest Winnipesaukee Playhouse production, The Complete History of America (Abridged), running July 3 through July 11 in Meredith. It’s the Lewis and Clark section, a vaudeville-style bit in which two explorers debate their destination until someone gets hit with a rubber hammer.
“Absurdly stupid jokes,” Lesher said with a grin during a recent Zoom meeting. “But they captured exactly that energy with complete commitment right off the bat, and I was embarrassed by how much I enjoyed it.” That’s the sweet spot the show, written by Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, is designed to occupy.
Three actors, 90 minutes with intermission, and 600 years of American history are distilled in the play, initially performed by Reduced Shakespeare Company, a troupe famous for what the New York Times dubbed “intellectual vaudeville.” That it’s playing during the nation’s big birthday celebration is almost too perfect.
Lesher, surprisingly, claimed the semiquincentennial had slipped his mind until reminded of it, thanking the interviewer as he considered how to include it on opening weekend.
“I’m so focused on the show I didn’t even think about it, but yes,” he said, “we’re going to open with some rousing acknowledgment.”
That’s one of the play’s biggest charms — it’s less a script than a jumping off point. In fact, it’s been revised as recently as late last year. For example, it now includes a lot more about Alexander Hamilton than when Lesher first saw it during the George W. Bush presidency.
Lesher was a tour guide in New York City some time ago, and one stop was at Hamiton’s grave. “I’d have to explain who he was; now they tell me. That’s the power of pop culture when it’s applied to history,” he said, and promised a Lin-Manuel Miranda callback in his production — no spoilers, though. “It’s a cameo … a really funny one, and it’s a musical reference.”
This is Lesher’s first Winnipesaukee Playhouse gig, and it came partly because of his track record. He’s also an actor and was part of RSC’s national tour of Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). He did have some concerns about this play’s politics-tinged jabs. “My first question when I was hired was, ‘Can we laugh at ourselves anymore?’”
The answer, after a week-plus in rehearsal with a three-person cast of Owen Minor, Travis Tingvall and Amanda Wagner, is a clear yes.
“They’re so funny and light that I think even with our very real rancorous differences in politics today, we can set it aside and enjoy the gentle ribbing,” he said. “We tar everybody.”
The show skates nimbly across the full sweep of American history, or at least a highly compressed, cheerfully distorted version of it. There’s pre-Revolutionary America, the founding era, westward expansion, two world wars, Watergate and Covid, along with figures ranging from George Washington to both Bushes and the current White House resident.
Real-time topicality is baked into the play’s DNA, and Lesher has leaned into it.
“If something happens in the political world the day before we open, we might throw that in,” he said, adding the script almost demands the reflexes of a stand-up comic. “Being able to play off each other and what the audience gives you … it will be different every night.”
There are audience Q&A sections, a game show sequence where an actor goes into the crowd with a fake microphone, and occasional snark aimed at latecomers. It all lives or dies by the cast’s deft read-and-respond skills. Though it’s information-packed, Lesher is emphatic the show is accessible even for audiences who slept through eighth-grade social studies.
“You don’t need to know American history … it’s enjoyable on the level of pure, sheer zany comedy,” he said. “But those who do know their history will find another level in the references.” Seriousness sometimes does elbow its way in, with moments touching on national tragedies like Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination and 9/11.
Fortunately, it’s all handled with an irreverence that earns its right to the material.
“It does make you go home and think,” Lesher said, nodding in agreement when reminded that one of history’s funniest bits concerns Mrs. Lincoln’s night at the Ford Theatre. “It’s rooted in something very real, but still one of the funniest things.”
The Complete History of America (abridged)
When: Friday, July 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, July 4, at 2 p.m.; Sunday, July 5, at 2 p.m.; Tuesday, July 7, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, July 9, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 10, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Winnipesaukee Playhouse, 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith
Admission: $40 and up, winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org
Featured photo: Owen Minor, Travis Tingvall and Amanda Wagner. Photo by Lawrence Lesher.
