It's the sort of secret history you wished the United States enjoyed. At least some of it. Or, maybe not.

Segments of "The Complete History of America (abridged)" are funny enough that you wish they were true, until you also realize that if true, we may not have lasted some 233 years.

This production, written and performed by the world-famous Reduced Shakespeare Company, and playing through Sunday at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, crams some 600 years of (mostly) fictitious history of the country, from ancient tribes through the time of Columbus, toward the Revolutionary War, western expansion, global rule and dozens of political and cultural foibles.

Performed in rat-a-tat style by three actors -- two of whom co-wrote the script -- "The Complete History of America (abridged)" dares you to keep up with it, and challenges you to decide if at least some of what the actors are saying is true. And some of it is -- but not much.

It's a formula that has worked well for the Reduced Shakespeare Company, a tiny troupe with a big reputation earned in such shows as "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)" and "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)."

In the Rep production, co-authors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor are joined onstage by frequent collaborator Dominic Conti, imitating -- with purposely limited success -- such historical figures as Vespucci, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, along with many lesser-known individuals, many of whom could not be possibly known at all, given their very ficticiousness.

The result is a wild ride, with some bits hitting better than others. A segment wherein the actors behave as if they are characters in a Civil War-era slideshow is a delight, but the subsequent re-enactment of Lincoln's assassination not as much. Propriety is often given the boot for the expediency of satire, though, and as the show rolls toward the present, things get crisper, if not ever more factual. That's the deal, and the delight, with this show.

"The Complete History of America (abridged)"

When: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: San Diego Repertory Theatre at the Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego

Tickets: $17.50-$40

(619) 544-1000

www.sdrep.org