Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

As far as uncompleted films go, few are as tantalizing as the ill-fated Josef Von Sternberg/Charles Laughton version of Robert Graves’ "I, Claudius." Officially abandoned after a suspicious car accident involving leading lady Merle Oberon, it was unofficially scuttled because Laughton was having tremendous trouble with playing Claudius, a limping, stuttering man adrift in a Rome of intrigue. What's left of his performance in outtakes is a marvel, but it was left to Derek Jacobi to finally do justice to Claudius in the famous seventies television mini-series.

Theatre Askew, a bold new company that won plaudits for outré takes on "Bald Soprano" and "The Tempest," is putting on "I, Claudius" in six separate episodes every Monday night at Ace of Clubs, an informal space that serves drinks throughout the show. I saw Episode B, "A Piece of Posthumus." Those who want to see only one show are in the clear: a full recap of the previous episode takes place before they get started. This production is a mixture of zesty camp, heavy-handed political jokes, fruity accents, bare limbs and insistent disco songs in between scenes. The actors dive in unashamedly, and they get their laughs, though there are a few scenes that seem to be meant seriously, and this can cause problems with the tone. Though the mood of "I, Claudius Live" keeps slipping around, it remains nothing less than compelling throughout. Bianca Leigh dominates as the ambitious, conniving Livia, and she has lots of fun with her English accent: it's a little like watching Valerie Perrine channel Julie Andrews. If I remember the mini-series correctly, things really pick up when John Hurt's Caligula arrives on the scene, which means that this ambitious theatrical series might just be getting warmed up.