Amerikus Rex

Amerikus Rex, by Kevin Rice, is a scathing political satire that re-casts our present political situation to Rome in the year 13AD. Casear Augustus is on his deathbed and must pick a successor. His stepson, Tiberius, is the logical choice. Augustus, however, doubles the field of candidates by recalling to Rome Tiberius’ brother, Cornelius, who has been in exile for the last ten years on the isle of Amerikus. Against the historical background of backstabbing, blood lust, and sexual intrigue, Cornelius foments further conflict upon his arrival. The influence of his ten years in banishment is immediately apparent from his business suit, cowboy hat, and bizarre and broken Latin spoken with a Southern accent. Cornelius’ simplistic new persona does not deceive his mother Livia who, together with the slave-sophisticate, Clea and her stammering nephew Claudius form the party of opposition to Cornelius. Throughout the play, the entire Familia is working to expose Cornelius in his ambition to seize the mantle of the Roman Empire for his own nascent empire of Amerikus. Much more than mere Bush-bashing, this new satire is a biting and thorough skewering of our current empire as seen though the prism of ancient Rome. John Giampetro directs.