After their acclaimed Six Wives of Henry VIII Living Spit are back with another romp through Tudor history. Stuart Mcloughlin all too manfully takes on the title role and Howard Coggins takes on pretty much every other significant figure from Elizabeth’s reign, including Bloody Mary, Walter Raleigh and William Shakespeare. There are very few props and even fewer costume changes, but there certainly is a great deal of anachronistic fun; for example, Elizabeth has an answer-phone on which Steven Hawking frequently leaves affectionate messages. There is throughout much rudery, buffoonery and outright absurdity, which reaches its peak when Robert Dudley, one-time prospective husband to Elizabeth, reveals that he has married a lettuce (giving rise to the best of the play’s many puns, not to be revealed here). Mcloughlin and Coggins frequently step out of character, addressing each other and the audience as versions of themselves. I particularly enjoyed their playful way with theatrical clichés and conventions, such as when Henry the Eighth’s ghost speaks in that exaggeratedly orotund way unique to spirits of the departed in drama. There are in addition some very enjoyable musical interludes, for both actors are very able guitarists and singers.
I expected to be amused by Elizabeth I – Virgin on the Ridiculous and I was not disappointed; what came as something of a surprise was how genuinely informative it is. Living Spit describe it as ‘poorly researched’, but I suspect this is to hide their embarrassment at being in reality a couple of history anoraks. Yes, there’s tomfoolery, a gloriously daft episode of audience participation, and lots of silly jokes, but there is also real complex history told with admirable clarity. An even bigger surprise than the historical accuracy is the poignancy; Mcloughlin and Coggins can switch from broad clowning to emotional realism in the twinkling of an eye, and there are genuinely moving scenes when we see the heavy price Elizabeth has made in choosing a public life over a private one.
Elizabeth’s story is complex, so in consequence there are some expository passages in the first half which put the brakes on what is otherwise a very pacey, energetic show. The second half is more consistently lively and often side-splittingly funny, not least when we see ace spy Francis Walsingham portrayed by Coggins as a 16th century Milk Tray Man. Elizabeth I – Virgin on the Ridiculous is a hoot – go see it. (I checked out that Robert Dudley on Wikipedia; he really did marry a lettuce, sort of) ★★★★☆ Mike Whitton
