THE PHYSICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF ATTEMPTED GLOBAL DOMINATION by Nika Mistruzzi and Aurora Stewart de Peña. Passe Muraille Mainspace. August 12 at 8 pm, August 14 at 12:30 pm. See listing Rating: NNNN
Eight dictators drawn from various historical periods compete in a game show to see who’s the strongest and most domineering.
Aurora Stewart de Peña and Nika Mistruzzi’s wonderfully outrageous script breaks the fourth wall and also casts eight women as the macho men, all with physical ailments and various paranoias. They include Pope Pius XII (Lauren Bride), Chairman Mao (Cara Gee), Pol Pot (Rebecca Applebaum) and Idi Amin (an over-the-top Meghan Swaby), who engage in silly contests involving insults, seducing women and capturing ammo. But there’s also the occasional note of chilling historical fact about the millions of deaths these men brought about.
The result, filled with balloons, pop tunes and lunacy, is often inspired, and the most polished work I’ve seen by Birdtown and Swanville.
