Elizabeth Rex

Queen Elizabeth I and Ned Lowenscroft, an actor famous for playing female parts, learn how to occupy each other's roles on the eve of Lord Robert Devereaux's death. Although the pacing is sometimes slow and there are some superfluous characters, the show has a good premise and the verbal sparring between the two leads is intense and electrifying.

Nicu's Spoon kicks off its Fall 2008 season of "Women & Gender" with Timothy Findley's Elizabeth Rex, a look at Queen Elizabeth I (Joan Allen look-a-like Stephanie Barton-Farcas)'s desire to switch roles with Ned Lowenscroft (the gaunt Michael DiGioia), a pox-riddled actor acclaimed for being the best at playing female roles. Mourning the loss of his lover, a Captain in the Queen's army, Lowenscroft is a likely teacher for expressing emotions since he demonstrates softness onstage and off. On the eve of the execution for treason of Robert Devereux, Second Earl of Essex and beloved of Queen Elizabeth, she, attended by Lady Mary Stanley (a graceful Melanie Horton) and Lady Anne, Countess of Henslowe (Ruth Kulerman), decides to slum it by paying William Shakespeare (Scott Nogi) and his cast a visit.

Shakespeare frames the plot of the play, coming out in the beginning to introduce the unraveling events that-fictitiously-coincided with his penning of Antony and Cleopatra, but he has very little importance in the show. The performance crawls by until Lowenscroft, the star of his troupe, enters the stage. DiGioia instantly sets himself apart from the others, his every moment, every facial expression, a dramatic and poignant gesture. However, he meets his match upon Barton-Farcas' arrival. She is every bit the surly, haughty, and hard-faced queen required to embody the character. Everything, from the regal costumes by Rien Schlecht to her white-powdered, stony visage and strikingly-bald head (from smallpox) enables Barton-Farcas to be credible and powerful as the ruler. The sharp and witty exchanges between them are enhanced by the tight-fisted direction of Joanne Zipay and Molly Goforth, the dialect coach responsible for the rise and ebb of Barton-Farcas' voice and the emotion in DiGioia's. Yet, despite the wonderful verbal sparring, the physical sparring doesn't fare as well. The "slap choreography" between them by Scott David Nogi, although amusing, falls short of looking genuine.

Although there are too many unnecessary characters taking up space and only there for the practical reason of displaying a full troupe, Elizabeth Rex is still a well-written piece about the short-tempered and sometimes indecisive monarch. The fictional work is a great what-if about what the Queen may have thought of her manliness and how she could have set about to rectify her image. It is also a timeless play that speaks into the perception of gender roles today, particularly in our current presidential election. Smart and entertaining for the most part, Elizabeth Rex is a crowning achievement in Nicu's Spoon's 2008 season.

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“Elizabeth Rex” runs through Sept. 6 at Center Stage, 48 West 21st Street, Chelsea; (866) 811-4111, theatermania.com