deLEARious 

Reviewed by Dana Martin 
Open Fist Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre 
Extended through January 27^th 

It’s 60 A.D. through 2017 and this is the Gospel according to Shakespeare. And King James. And Francis Bacon. And Ron West and Phil Swann. Open Fist’s deLEARious, written by West and Swann, is a quick and dizzying tale about writing — or more specifically re-writing — the Bard and the Bible.

The play shifts among three intertwining scenarios: The first takes place in a casting office where writer/producers are casting a new King Lear musical. The women called in to audition for Lear’s daughters all happen to be past, current or future girlfriends, so the casting process becomes laden with domestic strife. The second setup is the musical itself, complete with Lear’s many, many plot points. The third storyline involves William Shakespeare’s tenuous relationship with newly crowned King James, a haughty, snotty King who, with the help of Frances Bacon, rewrites Lear, while Shakespeare helps pen the King James Bible. Needless to say, there’s a lot going on.

deLEARious will certainly appeal to Mel Brooks fans: silly humor, clever jokes and puns aplenty. Well-written but too long, it’s the kind of show you need to see many times to appreciate its sheer volume of wit. But its songs become repetitive and the numerous plot details overwhelming. Also, many of the women are oversexualized. Jasmine, a stripper, is hired to play Cordelia, Lear’s virginal daughter. Her audition was quite the sight.

Many of the performances have a stiff presentational quality. Chase Studinski stands out from the pack as the haughty, smug and conceited King James. He’s an excellent singer, and a transformative actor. Scott Mosenson charms as Will Shakespeare, a very ordinary guy with extraordinary ability. Robyn Roth’s Goneril combines powerful vocals and a dominating presence into fantastically sinister alchemy. 

The direction, also by West, is quick and campy. He manages to keep the pace clipped and the action fluid despite the show’s excess length. It should be noted that in addition to writing and directing, West also plays several roles — an impressive feat. (It would be interesting to see the material interpreted by an outside eye.) Music director Jan Roper keeps the evening anchored with her calm presence, coupled with her skilled piano accompaniment.

deLEARious certainly succeeds in this respect: history is fickle, and the story we’re told here is very rarely a true one. So how will our stories be told?  It doesn’t really matter; they will be re-written, and hopefully includes a clever patter song.

Open Fist Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. Los Angeles; Fri.- Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; Extended through January 27th. (323) 882-6912 or www.openfist.org. Running time: two hours with one 10-minute intermission.