With the presidential election right around the corner, there are many important lessons to be learned and questions to be asked about past presidents and their administrations.

Perhaps foremost in the minds of the writers and creators of The Washington Tales is, how sweet would Ronald Reagan have been as the lead in Kill Bill?

The Washington Tales, a satirical rendering of past presidential events and scandals, told through the eyes of popular modern directors, will play at 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 8 p.m. Monday in 6 Arts Building.

The show consists of six short parodies and one musical number.

Beginning several years ago, after writer and producer John Donahue (senior-theater) and others compiled some of their satirical works, The Washington Tales has been gaining support from students and the university for the past year, according to director Don Frye (junior-theater).

"It started a couple of years ago when [Donahue and other writers] wrote a couple of shows mixing popular directors and actors with political figures and events," Frye said.

"Earlier this year they got me on board, we got some funding and the backing of the arts department."

With today's largely serious take on politics, those involved with The Washington Tales hope to bring entertainment and humor to the political arena.

"It's a collection of six short plays about various affairs in presidential history, things that have gone awry," Donahue said. "The show is very stylistic. We use Shakespeare to make fun of Watergate in iambic pentameter. We're just poking fun at the idiocies of politics."

Satirizing scandals from the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky Oval Office affair to the XYZ Affair of John Adams' administration and the Iran-Contra affair, Donahue said the show will allow its audience to laugh at what were, in the past, serious political events.

"It's very light-hearted," Donahue said. "The show is a really humorous way to make fun of stupid things presidents have done. Politics are really very funny sometimes and we're just having a good time with that."

With a cast of more than 30 student actors, the draw of The Washington Tales speaks to the talent of the writers, actor Tom Pogue said.

Pogue plays several roles including Groucho Marx and Yoda.

"I'm really familiar with the writers' work from past shows," Pogue said.

"I've worked with John Donahue before and really like his humor and identify with his writing."

Pogue also noted that the clash of political events with pop culture could serve a more important role than just entertainment.

"If anything it might teach you something," Pogue said. "It presents a lot of historical facts many people may not know. It basically teaches history through pop culture."

Those largely unfamiliar with politics or American history should have no fear.

This show is catered as much to modern pop-culture know-it-alls as it is history buffs and political science majors, Frye said.

"You're going from Shakespeare to Woody Allen to Star Wars," he said. "In [the skit] Kill Ayatollah, Reagan takes the role of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.

It's pop-culture. People who are into things like Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill or Star Wars will definitely make those pop-culture connections no matter their knowledge of politics."