Regina Vagina continues at LAB at PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms until 24 August 2025.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Hilarious, historical and gorgeously rude, Regina Vagina explores the question of Queen Elizabeth I’s virginity. Full to the brim with parody songs and historical tit-bits, the committed cast of character actors has the audience in stitches.
This show could have resorted to cheap jokes but, instead, all are well thought out, well rounded, fantastically written and perfectly timed.
From the moment William Shakey Spears (Calum Philp) steps onto the stage, this show is a blast. The performers fill the space with tireless energy which continues consistently throughout the entire performance.
Created by Old‘n’Dead Productions and Erstwhile Media, Regina Vagina returns to the Fringe with a mostly new, well chosen cast, who have embraced their multiple roles with skill and artistry. Pedro Branco’s fabulously outrageous portrayal of Phillip II and Charlotte Purdie’s gender-swapped, racy rendition of Sir Walter Raleigh keep the audience enrapt.
The songs, all parodies of old favourites, cover a variety of genres. Each is filled with saucy jokes punctuated with historically factual accuracies.
If this show needs anything, it’s a bigger stage, but the performers make great use of the entire space given them. Costumes are bespoke and brilliant, from the intricacies of Elizabeth’s dress, to the on-theme Spanish Armada ships, to Shakey Spears’ leather breeches.
But not all history can be amusing, as actor, writer, director and historian Beth Eltringham and co-writer, technician Oliver Giggins, know well. Unexpectedly and perfectly placed, the team tackles the darker side of the jokes with sensitivity, lending strength to the portrayal of Elizabeth’s reign.
Comedic, conscientiously crafted and deliciously camp, Regina Vagina is recommended to anyone with a taste for bawdy hilarity and quirky history.
Molly Glenn
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