It isn’t often that I spend Sunday morning with the Lord, but I’m very glad I skipped sleeping in this week for a noontime service at Ten10 Brewing with the ridiculous royal behind the best-known Bible. Although mostly remembered for his florid translation of the Holy Word, King James I (Alexander Mrazek) was also one of history’s most powerful homosexuals, and bestowed titles of nobility upon his male lovers. When a pair of priests (Karl Anthony Ockstadt, Josh Melendez) try to shame James into appearing in public with his little-seen spouse, Anne of Denmark — and out of committing sodomy with his muscular manservant (James Berkley) — it sparks a world-shaping overhaul of the Good Book that for the first time made scripture accessible outside the upper echelons.
The bickering banter in writer-director Michael Knight’s fourth-wall-shattering script is seasoned with a flurry of F-bombs and stuffed with sly double entendres, and his brisk pacing boasts more big laughs per minute than any other Fringe play. Mrazek is marvelously queenly as King James, swinging from a skittish giggling schoolgirl to a righteous reformer at the drop of a crown; his arch facial expressions alone are worth the ticket price. Ockstadt’s obstreperous objections to the King’s kinks generate pure purple-faced comedy gold, and the entire hour is a masterclass in comic timing.
The Fabulous King James Bible makes incisive, insightful theological statements about the role of religion in controlling the population, saying the quiet part out loud about the corruption at the heart of the Church and State, but this Tudor tutoring is terrifically funny even if you aren’t a biblical history buff. Not to be missed for all the spilled tea in England.
The Fabulous King James Bible
Ten10 Brewing (BSide)
60 minutes; 18 & up
$15
Get tickets
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This article appears in May 14-20, 2025.