Dario Fo's "Elizabeth, Almost by Chance a Woman" at Penn State Behrend November 3, 2011

October 24, 2011 – “Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman,” a provocative, fast-paced political satire written by the Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo, will be the fall production in the Studio Theatre at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

The court of Queen Elizabeth I, the play’s namesake, is in a state of upheaval: The petulant, paranoid monarch has taken to her boudoir to subject herself to uproariously unorthodox beauty treatments while awaiting her lover, fending off political conspirators both real and imagined, and reading into Shakespeare’s works supposed threats to her realm. “Fo nails pretension and political chicanery with ridicule, laughter, sarcasm, irony and the grotesque,” the entertainment newspaper Variety said of the show. “This being Fo, the play is rich with raunch and scatology, and may offend the unwary. But for Fo converts, it’s a must, just as it’s an ideal introduction to one of the world’s funniest theatre satirists.”

“Elizabeth” was written in the early 1980s as both a rejection of Ronald Reagan and a response to the U.S. Department of State’s refusal to issue Fo a visa to participate in an American Repertory Theatre festival, a decision that was later rescinded after protests by the American playwright community. “There is a long history of actors and playwrights using theatre as a means to critique those in power in Italy and elsewhere. Fo’s play draws intriguing connections between Elizabethan England and the United States during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, which I find incredibly relevant today,” show director Dr. Joanne Zerdy said. “Given recent topplings of political leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as the near saint-like status afforded to Reagan since his death, this play resonates with socio-cultural and political shifts in the 21st century.”

Zerdy added that she and her students have “enjoyed making updates to ‘Elizabeth’ that reflect our present political situation, which we’ve done in the tradition of Fo and his commedia del’arte predecessors.”

Zerdy, a new lecturer in theatre at Penn State Behrend, previously taught at the University of Minnesota, where she earned her doctoral degree in theatre historiography. A Pennsylvania native, she grew up outside Philadelphia and attended the University of Pittsburgh for her undergraduate degree before earning a master’s degree in English literature at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her scholarship has most recently focused on Scottish theatre and politics.

The student cast of “Elizabeth” is Chikodili Agwuna, Victoria Butler, Toni Igbenobou, Craig Kiser, Alice Lyons, Alexander Rice, Ryan Richards, Sarah Veslany, and Carissa Zozos. Dr. John Champagne, associate professor of English, will play the challenging role of Elizabeth’s impulsive aesthetician, Big Mama.

“Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman” will be performed at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, Friday, Nov. 4, Saturday, Nov. 5, Thursday, Nov. 10, Friday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov.12. There will be one matinee, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6. Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for students; the show is appropriate for ages 13 and older. Tickets can be purchased in the Reed Union Building or by calling 814-898-6242.