Elizabeth Rex: Play Review

This play left me in a puddle riding the 66 Bus back to Michigan Avenue after seeing a production at Chicago Shakespeare last week. This came as a complete surprise given my level of “theatrical jade” I have toward works on stage. But Elizabeth Rex, by Timothy Findley takes no prisoners.

What is this play about?

Elizabeth Rex takes place on the eve of the execution of the Earl of Essex, the Queen’s supposed lover (yeah, “Virgin Queen” my ass). In order to distract her self from the night’s gloom, she commissions Shakespeare’s men to put on a performance of Much Ado About Nothing. Following the performance, Elizabeth shockingly appears in the barn where the players are staying (acting is SO glamorous), where she meets our other protagonist, Ned. Ned is the premier player of the strong independent women in Shakespeare’s company, the Queen being particularly fond of his portrayal of Beatrice that evening. Ned, we come to find out, is dying of the pox (a LOT of allusion to AIDS here). There begins the crux of our story. Ned is trying to “man up” and face death with strength while he notices that Elizabeth has closed off her heart to feeling, much like a man. One of the many memorable quotes comes when Queen Elizabeth says, “Teach me how to be a woman and I will show you how to play a man.” (or something like that) What follows is a tale that never lets you unclench your guts with twists, magic reveals, and what can only be described as theatrical majesty.

The Playwright

Timothy Findley (known as “Tiff” to his friends, because of his initials: Timothy Irving Frederick Findley- don’t you just LOVE that!?) is a Canadian Playwright born in 1930 and died in 2002. This guy is fascinating. Even though he was publicly a homosexual he married a woman, Janet Reid, in 1959 which ended in divorce two years later in 1961. Well then he started shaking up with this guy William Whitehead, also a writer, and the two collaborated on a bunch of projects in the 1970s! Did these two relationships influence Elizabeth Rex’s “what makes a man, what makes a woman” debate? I THINK SO! Elizabeth Rex is his most famous and most successful play but he also wrote a bunch of novels and short stories that I HAVE to read. Does anyone know anything about this guy!? I’m obsessed with him.

Why is this Play Rad?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Historical Figures!- In what other play do you get to see: A Shakespearean boy player, Queen Elizabeth, and Shakespeare himself! If you are an anglofile like I am, your inner twelve year old orphan squeals, “Pleez sah I wont Summore!”

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Men-Women or Women-Men?- No other play that I know of deals with the idea of being a masculine woman or a feminine man with such grace and clarity as this one. I’m still reeling from it’s effects. Where do I stand on this scale, I wonder?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Glorious Speeches- Contemporary writers are not known for their ability to write sweeping lines of lengthy prose. (See: Mamet, LaBute, etc. where every other line is “yeah” or “fuck you”). But this play is a gold mine for an actor who needs a great contemporary English period piece for auditions.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Fabulous Costumes- The potential for costuming here is fabulous. This play would make a great costume design project! You would have to design: Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare, Ned as Beatrice, Elizabeth as Beatrice, a grubby seamstress, a fairer boy player who plays Hero in Much Ado.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->An ending to die for- if this last moment doesn’t grab you by the balls, you don’t have a soul. Simple as that.

Actors’ Annex

Most of the play’s great dialogue takes place between the following two characters:

NED: Mid-late 30s, must have an air of the feminine with the ability to encapsulate the masculine desire to cheat death.

ELIZABETH- Mid-late 50s, the woman has to have (dare I say it?) BALLS. She lets nothing get by her and is quick to strike if anyone dares to cross her. Think Attila The Hun in a corset.

Where you can get the script:

I can only find it on Amazon used for $70. Anyone know any Canadians with the hook up?