by Patrick White
Living Room Theatre is working with primary colors with their new production The Tyrant Play subtitled A Serious Comedy written and directed by company co-founder Randolyn Zinn.
The simply titled play tells a straightforward fable of absolute power corrupting absolutely with an appealing cast of 10 (including the playwright in a speechless role) in glorious costumes by Cynthia Flynt in their inimitable home playing space, a hollowed out swimming pool on the grounds of the Park McCullough Historic Governor’s Mansion in North Bennington, VT.
The play is set at The Palace in The Eternal Present which is represented in the mottled blue pool by a throne with a rug hanging behind it in one corner and a cot covered with a rich embroidered throw in the other corner. The remaining two corners house stairs which the cast will be using frequently as most scenes happen between two and three people.
Allen McCullough, a LRT co-founder and master actor plays King Cassian, the ruler in question whose primary offense in the play is that he has captured the maiden Felicity, Elizabeth Kenney in a fetching performance, but in general, he is a leader ruling for his own gain. He is a narcissistic, corrupt blowhard who demands fealty and flattery, sound like anyone you know?
His wife, the Queen Maeve (glamorous Valeri Mudek) is also imprisoned with a clever frame of handheld bars held in front of her face by her or her scene partner. The exposition begins with Cyrus the Seer (Jeremy Webb) but is carried on by the court jester Sisco, the very funny Matt Dallal. Vadik, local theater legend Richard Howe in a thick Russian dialect, is the king’s foreign advisor runs interference which is just Boris Badenov to complicate matters enough for the 90 minute play.
The primary driver to freeing the maiden is her sister Sylvia, Tessa Weinland making her LRT debut in a luminous performance with a captivating speaking voice, who is lovingly attached to the king’s son Hero, George Olesky in a princely performance. Aidan Ellison makes a fresh faced debut with LRT and is appealingly and surprisingly wholesome as one of the king’s forcers.
Valeri Mudek as Queen Maeve and Allen McCullough as King Cassian in “The Tyrant Play (A Serious Comedy)”, written and directed by Randolyn Zinn, at Living Room Theatre. Photo by Angus McCullough. 
Elizabeth Kenny as Fecility and Richard Howe as Vadik in “The Tyrant Play (A Serious Comedy)”, written and directed by Randolyn Zinn, at Living Room Theatre. Photo by Angus McCullough. 
Matt Dallal as Sisco and Allen McCullough as King Cassian in “The Tyrant Play (A Serious Comedy)”, written and directed by Randolyn Zinn, at Living Room Theatre. Photo by Angus McCullough. 
Valeri Mudek as Queen Maeve, George Olesky as Hero, and Matt Dallal as Sisco in “The Tyrant Play (A Serious Comedy)”, written and directed by Randolyn Zinn, at Living Room Theatre. Photo by Angus McCullough. 
There’s plenty of rueful humor with this curdled fairy tale of a miscreant master whose impulse is to “deny, deflect and blame.” Zinn can draw laughs with her viewpoint, dialogue and stage inventions. The first three of Vadik’s entrances were accompanied by the sound of snarling dogs not unlike Frau Blücher and her horses in “Young Frankenstein.” To reach the maiden in the tower, the cast walks in circles in the center of the pool as if they were ascending a circular staircase. It’s a great bit and the audience loves it. I wish it were more structured… a bigger commit to the bit.
The biggest drawback to The Tyrant Play is that it is too simple and too nice. If you’re going to write a play with that title in 2026, it should have some teeth in it. The king enters the tower singing “Isn’t it Romantic?” No, in fact, it is most definitely not.
It was a beautiful night and Hero’s penultimate entrance to save the girl was framed for me with a nearly full moon over his right shoulder which could not be bettered by Spielberg. It was a lovely, charming evening with a group of fantastic actors that left me wanting something grimmer.
“The Tyrant Play (A Serious Comedy)”, written and directed by Randolyn Zinn, was presented July 15-August 2, 2026, in the swimming pool on the grounds of the Park McCullough Historic Governor’s Mansion in North Bennington, VT. CAST: Allen McCullough as King Cassian, Elizabeth Kenney as Felicity, Valeri Mudek as Queen Maeve, Jeremy Webb as Cyrus the Seer, Matt Dallal as Sisco, Richard Howe as Vadik, Tessa Weinland as Sylvia, George Olesky as Hero, and Aidan Ellison as Demaris. Music composed by Michael Chinworth. Costumes by Cynthia Flynt.
July 15-August 2nd
Performances Wednesdays thru Sundays at 7 pm in the LRT pool on the grounds of the Park McCullough Historic Governor’s Mansion, 1 Park St, North Bennington, VT.
Tickets: info@lrtvt.org or 802-442-5322 https://www.lrtvt.org/