What a wonderful idea and wish I could see it. Taylor has always been great, but her performance (as far as I can see in the clip) looks outstanding.

WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Ann Richards had hair that defied gravity, a wit that left opponents laughing and a grip on grass-roots politics that made her a legendary figure among women and minorities even after her one-term stint as chief executive of the Lone Star State.

All of which makes for pretty entertaining theater in a remarkable performance by veteran actress Holland Taylor in the play “Ann,” which Taylor also wrote, now playing at the Kennedy Center before heading to Broadway.

Taylor, a stage, movie and television actress best known for playing the mother on CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” is spot-on as Richards, who dominated Democratic politics for years after her electrifying national debut as keynote speaker at 1988′s Democratic National Convention.

The one-woman play begins with the governor — Richards was Texas’ governor from 1991 to 1995 — talking from a podium to a graduating class of high school students, which, of course, is the audience.

“George Washington was from Texas,” Ann begins, in a bit of bravado that is part of all tall Texas tales. But when Washington admits to his father that he could not tell a lie and chopped down that legendary “mesquite” tree, his father says, “We’re moving to Virginia. If you can’t tell a lie, we can’t stay in Texas.”