The late gay Canadian novelist and playwright Timothy Findley (1930-2002) gives a clue about what his final drama, Elizabeth Rex, is about just through its title. Instead of using the Latin "Regina" meaning queen, Findley deliberately uses the masculine and kingly "Rex" for his fictionalized examination of England's Queen Elizabeth I in later life.
Ten years after its world premiere at Canada's Stratford Festival, Elizabeth Rex is having its Chicago Shakespeare Theater debut in a new production directed by company founder and artistic director Barbara Gaines. In the cast are two distinguished theater actors from Canada: Diane D'Aquila (who originated the portrayal of a theater-loving Elizabeth I in 2001) and Steven Sutcliffe (Ragtime, The Visit).
"It's certainly not a documentary. Timothy Findley came up with an idea and ran with it," D'Aquila said during a joint telephone interview with Sutcliffe.
Elizabeth Rex is based upon historical fact of William Shakespeare's acting company performing for Queen Elizabeth I on the night before the Earl of Essex (Robert Devereux), her former court favorite and oft-rumored lover, was to be beheaded after he helped participate in an uprising against her.
It is known that Shakespeare's company was paid by conspirators to perform his history play Richard II (which questions who has the divine right to rule) in advance of the failed uprising, and that several of Shakespeare's actors were subsequently questioned by the crown's prosecutors. However, rather than focus on the conspiracy history angle, Findley uses this situation in Elizabeth Rex to explore gender roles via a meeting between the Queen and Ned Lowenscroft, a fictionalized gay actor who portrays women's roles in Shakespeare's company. (Women were not allowed to appear on Elizabethan stages.)
D'Aquila says the play Shakespeare's company performed for Elizabeth I on this occasion was mostly likely Twelfth Night, but Findley switches it to Much Ado About Nothing for his drama because the gender roles and the relationship between the characters Beatrice and Benedick was more fitting.
"It was also known that Shakespeare was working on Anthony and Cleopatra at this time," Sutcliffe said, noting that its depiction of an aging queen with a younger lover might have been uncomfortable in light of Elizabeth's relationship with Devereux (both Sutcliffe and D'Aquila remark that Anthony and Cleopatra wasn't produced until after the death of Elizabeth I).
"The fascination for Elizabeth with a character like Ned in her own life has the push-pull conundrum of her own needs as a woman and her own sexual desire, but knowing that her day job, i.e., 'The Queen,' demanded that her to be very connected with the male side of herself," D'Aquila said. "She would see someone like Ned Lowenscroft and go, 'Oh my God! Look at how well he plays a woman.' In her mind, he plays a woman better than she does."
D'Aquila and Sutcliffe are in perfect agreement on the notion that both Elizabeth I and Ned had to coat themselves in their own forms of "drag" to survive and thrive. They also agree on the parallels Findley draws between Elizabeth I and the fictional Ned by showing them both in a state of decline: growing older for her and the afflictions of syphilis for him (in a historical metaphor to parallel the modern-day scourge of HIV/AIDS).
"The play is happening at a time of great emotional conflict and so boundaries that wouldn't normally be crossed are crossed on this extraordinary night," Sutcliffe said about Findley's premise of a Queen deigning to actually chat with lowly actors in Elizabeth Rex.
D'Aquila is relishing the chance to return to the role of Elizabeth I 10 years after creating it, joking that she doesn't have to "age up" as much via makeup now.
"I really feel I have rediscovered the part and mined it much deeper than I ever did the first time around," D'Aquila said, crediting much of that to working with director Barbara Gaines and the new company of actors at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
D'Aquila is also enjoying the chance to work directly with Sutcliffe. Even though both have appeared in several of the same plays before in Canada, they really haven't played characters directly going head to head with each other.
"I really feel like it's a dance between the two of us on that stage," D'Aquila said. "I'm loving every minute of it."
Elizabeth Rex continues through Jan. 22 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave. Tickets are $44-$75; call 312-595-5600 or visit www.chicagoshakes.com for more information.
Opera news
Chicago Opera Theater (COT) announced that Vienna native and conductor Andreas Mitisek will become the company's next general director starting in September 2012. Mitisek replaces outgoing general director Brian Dickie, who held the post for the past 12 years and oversaw COT's move from the Athenaeum Theatre to Millennium Park's Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
In an interesting twist, Mitisek will maintain his current positions as general and artistic director of Long Beach Opera in California in addition to his new job with COT. No doubt both companies will be sharing opera productions in the future.
Also in the news is the appointment of Alexandra Day in the new position of director of public relations for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Day currently serves as director of communications and business development for soprano Renée Fleming, who was named the Lyric Opera of Chicago's first creative consultant in December 2010.
