Criminal Minds’ Kirsten Vangsness steals every scene she’s in as our 45th president seen through a farcical Shakespearean lens in Phinneas Kiyomura’s Nimrod, a wild and wacky Theatre of NOTE World Premiere that’s a bit too all over the place to truly hit the mark.

Assorted rabble rousers start things off with MAGA-style xenophobia and antisemitism (“Truth is — fake news — greatest country — Going to hell”) upon which the scene switches to First Lady “Lani” (a fiery Hiwa Chow Elms) lying supine in bed with bearded hunk Carver (the terrifically sexy, terrifically talented Edward Moravcsik) atop her face as she recalls her POTUS husband Nimrod’s promise not to run for a second term as president. (“Exactly said, thou randy doc with cock. Just one year, doc. I’m free. I promise thee.”)

Once the man in question appears in the person of Vangsness, channeling her inner Donald to hilarious, scathing perfection, it becomes clear which actual US President Nimrod is representing. (The character’s orange complexion could be no one else’s).

Assorted supporting characters clearly have their real-life counterparts as well: Donald 2 (Chloe Madriaga), Double Junior (Isaiah Alexander), and Princess (Niall Sulcer, looking pretty as a picture in drag) are obviously the the ex-prexy’s eldest three, and given the play’s multiple instances of gender-blind casting, Dukie (Asha Noel Iyer, a bratty delight) has to be standing in for Baron.

It’s obvious too that Sierra Marcks’ madcap, manic Ghouliardi, hair styled into a comb-over, is the former oughta-be-disbarred mayor of New York City, and bare-chested Red Hat (Sulcer again) looks to be the man currently waging war on Ukraine, but who then are dragon lady in drag Fairfellow (Joel Scher), the sycophantic Finger (Robert Paterno), and assorted baddies Goodfellow (Shayne Eastin), Gooner (Dan Wingard), Smartfellow (Lisa Clifton), and Blandon (a deadly serious, cold-as-ice Sarah Lilly) supposed to be representing?

 A glance at Kiyomura’s script reveals that Finger = Stephen Miller, Goodfellow = Chuck Schumer, and Blandon = Steve Bannon, but the others mentioned appear to have no specific real-life counterparts, and without this information in hand, I must confess to having spent too much time wondering who was who throughout the show.

I also couldn’t figure out why Lani’s Slovenian brother Denis (a droll Josh Odess-Rubin) had a Slavic accent but not his sister, except in their one-on-ones, and what on earth was up with Nimrod falling in love with a gent sporting an enormous boar’s head.

Even now, several days after attending Nimrod’s opening night performance, I’m still asking myself (cue Dionne Warwick singing Bacharach/David), “What’s it all about, Phinny?”

Whatever the case, I can’t deny the fun I had watching the onstage capers, listening to the cast’s amusing pseudo-Shakespearean versifying (“Something missing and I cannot find it. Carver, your tie looks fuck’d. My wife unfuck’d.”), observing the over-the-top antics staged with madcap abandon by director Alina Phelan, and above relishing all every single time Vangsness (clearly having the time of her life) ate up either the stage or a Big Mac with uninhibited glee.

 Bill Voorhees’ minimalist, white-pillared set adapts to multiple locales on a widescreen stage vibrantly lit by Matt Richter, with Kimberly Freed’s eclectic bunch of costumes earning their own chuckles and cheers in a production design ably completed by Voorhees’ props, Jenny Flack’s scenic mural, Richter and Jason T. Lamoreaux’s music and sound design, Emory Royston’s special character construction and design, and Clay Hickson’s presidential seal design.

Nimrod is executive produced for Theatre of NOTE by Vangsness. Sulcer, Liesel Hanson, Brendan Ellis and Eastin.

Nadia Marina is assistant director. Celina Surniak is fight choreographer and intimacy coordinator. Peter Newell is stage manager. Misha Riley is production manager. David Elzer is publicist.

I enjoyed Nimrod (the play) and went wild for Nimrod (the character, as portrayed with abundant glee by Vangsness). I just wish I’d had a better idea of what and who I was supposed to be watching.

Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga, Hollywood.
www.theatreofnote.com

–Steven Stanley
February 10, 2023
Photos: Jenny Graham

Tags: Kirsten Vangsness, Los Angeles Theater Review, Phinneas Kiyomura, Theatre Of NOTE