Elizabeth: Almost By Chance A Woman

Overview

You’ve never seen Queen Elizabeth quite like this before. The long-reigning English monarch of the late 16th century has been portrayed by actresses numerous times, most famously by the likes of Glenda Jackson and Cate Blanchett. In such performances we see Elizabeth as regal, bold, passionate, sensitive, commanding, and even a little romantic. But how many times have we seen her as a stark raving madwoman?

Queensland Theatre Company presents Elizabeth: Almost By Chance A Woman, by Dario Fo. In the final day of her life, an ailing Elizabeth clings desperately to her throne and her sanity. She has gone eleven days without sleep, and she fears that if she allows herself to bed she may not rise again. Her mind conjures up vivid memories and grandly paranoid delusions, such as William Shakespeare having plagiarised the events of her life in his plays. Her boudoir transforms into The Globe Theatre, where the last few hours of her reign are played out in stratospherically high drama.

Fo is a Nobel Prize-winning playwright, famous for his biting political satires and revival of the commedia dell’arte performance style. Directed by Wesley Enoch, this is your chance to see Elizabeth as a foul-mouthed, lustful, and neurotic narcissist.