PVCC Arts Roasts Queen Elizabeth I
Tiana Sigala, staff writer
On Saturday, March 23 the Dickinson building’s Maxwell Black Box Theatre was filled to the brim with excited community members, there to enjoy PVCC’s production of Dario Fo’s play “Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman.”
The play revolves around Queen Elizabeth I who, in the midst of political upheaval, eagerly awaits her lover the Earl of Essex, who is involved in a coup against her regime. The play takes place primarily in the queen’s boudoir, where she takes visitors and advisers such as Egerton (played by Professor Kit Decker) or Dame Grosslady (played by three separate actors: Anthony Madison, Connor Campbell, and Vincent Madison), and hilarity ensues.
The play is, according to director Brad Stroller, “a riot, a mess, an uncontrollable stampede of pure FUN.” He asserts that one cannot attempt to get ahold on the play, they should just let it wash over them. This is in part because of the play’s use of Grammelot, an onomatopoeic, satirical language used by the cross-dressing Dame Grosslady.
Grammelot often mimics or takes rhythm from other languages, giving the impression of meaning more than directly expressing any. Stroller said meaning will not come from the brain, but more settle across you as the play goes on.
“It’s really madcap code-switching,” said Professor of Spanish Kit Decker, “It’s a taunt of words. You can pick out a few and others don’t mean anything, but there’s sense hidden in there if you can pick it out.”
This play came to life with an exhaustive effort from actors and production, with rehearsals taking place five days a week, sometimes twice a day. The result was a perfectly choreographed, lively play. The titular character was played by Marie Lotter, and her performance as a monarch with nary a finger on reality was raucous and exciting. Her abuse of characters Martha (Callie Bandy), Dame Grosslady, and Egerton was surprisingly funny to watch. The characters were enveloping and kept eyes bounding across the small stage here and there as the energetic cast made use of every square foot of space, sometimes edging into the audience.
PVCC will feature performances of “Time of My Life”, the story of an unraveling family written by Alan Ayckbourn, on April 4 – 6 at 7:30 p.m, and April 7 at 2:30 p.m in the Maxwell Black Box Theatre. For more information or to purchase tickets visit the Fine Arts & Performance section of the PVCC website.
