Modern America: It's no place for a play about a hideous, delusional despot without even a finger on the pulse of reality. Right. Well, in a gutsy debut production from a new company, Dario Fo's distinctively styled play about England's virgin queen rears its not-so-subtle satirical head here in Los Angeles, with delightfully, shamelessly comic results. Okay, it also has results that aren't as delightful, but they're still pretty darn laudable.
The story centers on her fading royal highness (played by a commanding but too young Stacie Merken) and the political/personal intrigue that may or may not have surrounded her. A testy Elizabeth is doted upon by her fed-up lady-in-waiting (a lovely Kappa V. Wood) and dim chief of intelligence (an even lovelier A.J. Schmitz). The queen is also haunted by the ghost of her murdered sister, Mary, Queen of Scots (Melinda Kramer, sweet and strong). But, as the seeds of revolution are planted around her--perhaps by her would-be lover, or maybe by some theatrical hack named Will Shakespeare--she primps and worries far more about her sagging breasts than her bladder control problem or affairs of state. Or does she? Because, in the subversive Fo's hands, of course Elizabeth careens haphazardly between the historical and the hysterical. It's a streetwise snatch of bawdy, in-your-face political commedia, which works best when rules are broken and boundaries are obliterated, i.e., when Elizabeth is visited by Big Mama--a salacious, cross-dressing beautician played here with big-breasted brilliance by Ryan Fox. Sure, the 20-year-old play itself is wildly uneven and overlong, but, in his diva role, Fox consistently captures its rebellious, provocative spirit and infects everyone else, creating much of the timely chaos onstage, which, unfortunately, is too often controlled in this too-careful production.
Director Heather Arnson does a beautiful job of mounting the show, assembling a talented cast (nods also to Skip Pipo, Simon Hamlin, and Devin Ordoyne) and doubling as a designer, along with producer Gavin Doyle. Cynthia Herteg's striking costumes give the evening a quality finish.