Author Jan O’Connor must be a student of Picasso, who is reputed to have said that " . . . all great artists borrow from other great artists . . . but the truly great ones STEAL!"

Warren Davis - Riley Rose Critchlow

 

For those who insist that theatre should have a good story, excellent acting, a villain, a good guy and an ending where love wins over all adversity, this is it! It’s a delightful and charmingly lighthearted romp through a mythical kingdom of Flugelhorn where the monarchy is on a precarious balance because the king has no male heir and according to their laws only a male can ascend to the throne. The law dictates that in such a case the male son of the king’s brother, the Duke of Lesser Fugel will take the throne, but alas, the Duke has no male heir either so he does the only honorable thing a Duke can do. When his daughter is born he murders all the witnesses to the birth and declares the baby is a boy! He then proceeds to raise his daughter as a boy, teaching her all the manly things a boy should know like hunting, swordsmanship and other skills, aware that the time will come when “Basil” will eventually rise to power.

 

Along the way there are hilarious moments as Basil grows into a young woman. Little discoveries become traumatic moments for Basil and knee slapping yuks for the audience – "why don’t I have the same bulge between my legs that my cousin has?" So the father gives her a sock to insert inside her pants.  At age twelve when breasts begin to develop, Basil screams ". . . what the hell are these things?"  But when Basil experiences her first menstrual period it is a classic moment that – well, you had to be there.

Whitton Frank - Riley Rose Critchlow

 

Clotilda was deceived by a ploy hatched by the evil Duke of Lesser Fugel who sent a dashing young man pretending he was Count Charisma from Picollo. In fact he was a rouge who maneuvered King Heimlich out of the royal treasury funds and had his way with Clotilda leaving her pregnant and disgraced. The laws of Flugelhorn dictate that if a royal is unmarried and with child she must die.

This is Basil’s greatest dilemma. In the time she was there she has begun to develop feelings for Clotilda – feelings which at first she didn’t understand, later denied but eventually begins to accept. Will Basil allow the law to be upheld and send Clotilda to her death? With the evil Duke succeed in his nefarious plan to usurp power from his own daughter and become king himself? Will Basil and Clotilda be allowed to be together and live happily ever after even though they are both female?

For these and other answers one must visit the kingdom of Flugelhorn currently residing at the El Centro Theatre. There you can meet the other denizens which include Ross Gottstein as the King, Warren Davis as the evil Duke of Lesser Fugel, Adriana Bate as the Duchess of Lesser Fugel, Patty Jean Robinson as one of the Ladies in Waiting, Sean Faye who doubles as Count Charisma and guard Heinz and Jake Blakemore who has multiple roles and brings multiple voices and faces to the roles. A pleasant twist is when we learn how the Storyteller got to be there, played by Shelley Delayne (sharing the role with Tracy Elliot).

In fact, the entire presentation has subtle jabs at some of today’s often narrow views on sexuality and relationships. Richard Tatum directs with bouncy aplomb and his actors react with equal enthusiasm, placing this show high up on anybody’s "must see" list. The sets are great, the costumes are – well, they are there – (what do you expect for a small house?) but it’s the fuzzy feeling that will create the post theatre buzz around the glass of wine you’ll share with your fuzzy feeling someone.

As we often do here, we will quote an audience member near us who commented. "That was just marvelous!"

So there.

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