June 22, 2012
The Gazette - June 21, 2012By Pat Donnelly
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MONTREAL - What did Queen Elizabeth I do on the night before the 2nd Earl of Essex was executed?
Author Timothy Findley asks that question, using the dying William Shakespeare as his intermediary, in the Governor General Award-winning play Elizabeth Rex, currently being presented at the Segal Centre Studio by Tableau D’Hôte Theatre.
v The Earl of Essex, also known as Robert Devereux, may or may not have been Elizabeth’s lover. (He was 20 years younger and her first-cousin-twice-removed.) But for whatever reason, for many years, he was favoured at court, in spite of his often unruly behaviour.
Eventually he was involved in a plot to overthrow the government, so the queen, presumably with some regret, had him executed.
Findley has Shakespeare (played with unassuming grace by Arthur Holden) inviting us to share his thoughts about what might have happened on that February night in 1601 before Essex got the axe.
It’s a backstage play, set in the royal barn where the actors have been quartered after a command performance of Much Ado About Nothing that was meant to distract the queen from whatever weighed on her mind that night.
But the premise here is that the restless Elizabeth (played with great intensity and dignity by Leni Parker) is deeply troubled by Devereux’s imminent death and has decided to amuse herself by paying a visit to the actors in the stable, along with a pair of ladies-in-waiting (Irene Osprey and Lucinda Davis, both in fine form).
The first act is replete with clever repartee, bouncing around the room among members of the troupe, and then with the avid participation of Elizabeth, who takes the game a level higher. Because she loves a good verbal joust, she takes a liking to Ned, the actor who has just played Beatrice in Much Ado. He is clearly the wittiest of the lot. (Brett Watson plays him to the hilt, never wasting a line.) But Ned has a nasty side, too, and he does not spare the queen as he has nothing to lose. Syphilis has ravaged his body and he expects to die
Meanwhile, the bells toll as the hour of execution approaches.
While Elizabeth Rex is a nimbly written play in the literary sense, its structure weakens in the second act. Findley pits Ned against the queen in a game of truth or dare intended to bring out his manly side, in order to face death, and her womanly side, in order to pen a pardon. This pushes the rest of the characters to the sidelines and the momentum of the ensemble weakens.
Director Liz Valdez has cast well and delivered an impressive production. Eo Sharp’s simple, antique-furnished set and period costume design adorn the narrative beautifully. Jody Burkholder’s lighting is a bit bright for a lantern-lit stable. A Brechtian touch, perhaps?
Tableau D’Hôte has fashioned a fine production of this Canadian classic for its English-language debut in Montreal. Don’t miss it.
Elizabeth Rex, by Timothy Findley, at the Segal Centre Studio until July 1. Call 514-739-7944 or visit www.segalcentre.org.