novelesque_life's review
4.0
4 STARS
"Based on the original stage production at the Stratford Festival of Canada, directed by Martha Henry.
In this daring and original production of Timothy Findley's Governor-General Award winning play, William Shakespeare and the formidable Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, are brought together in a remarkable encounter on the night of April 22, 1616. The night the Queen's Lover will be executed, by the Queen's decree." (From Amazon)
A fabulous drama...I hope I get to see it on stage one day.
"Based on the original stage production at the Stratford Festival of Canada, directed by Martha Henry.
In this daring and original production of Timothy Findley's Governor-General Award winning play, William Shakespeare and the formidable Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, are brought together in a remarkable encounter on the night of April 22, 1616. The night the Queen's Lover will be executed, by the Queen's decree." (From Amazon)
A fabulous drama...I hope I get to see it on stage one day.
qiaosilin's review
4.0
A well-written, emotional play about Elizabeth I wanting to be entertained (read: distracted) by Shakespeare's acting troupe on the eve of the Earl of Essex's beheading.
I read it because I'm working at Bard this summer and it's one of the plays that we're putting on. I think it has a lovely contrast between the character Ned, who is the leading lady actor in Shakespeare's plays and therefore knows how to act more feminine, and Queen Elizabeth I, who is a monarch and needs to take on the roles of a king and therefore acts more masculine. The two try to teach each other to feel more in line with their sexes as they face some life-changing events.
It's a nice look into the feelings behind Elizabeth I's choices, especially since the Earl of Essex was considered one of her favourites and a potential suitor (if not an actual lover). But she has one backbone considering she executes him for treason.
The only thing I didn't like is the presumption that Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex really did do the boom-diggity as that is not fact, nor that Shakespeare was super in love with Southampton as that hasn't be proven either. I guess if you're taking the lives of people and making them into fictional versions, then I guess you're allowed artistic licence to do that. Either way, it`s canon in Findley's head, but it's not in mine.
I read it because I'm working at Bard this summer and it's one of the plays that we're putting on. I think it has a lovely contrast between the character Ned, who is the leading lady actor in Shakespeare's plays and therefore knows how to act more feminine, and Queen Elizabeth I, who is a monarch and needs to take on the roles of a king and therefore acts more masculine. The two try to teach each other to feel more in line with their sexes as they face some life-changing events.
It's a nice look into the feelings behind Elizabeth I's choices, especially since the Earl of Essex was considered one of her favourites and a potential suitor (if not an actual lover). But she has one backbone considering she executes him for treason.
The only thing I didn't like is the presumption that Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex really did do the boom-diggity as that is not fact, nor that Shakespeare was super in love with Southampton as that hasn't be proven either. I guess if you're taking the lives of people and making them into fictional versions, then I guess you're allowed artistic licence to do that. Either way, it`s canon in Findley's head, but it's not in mine.
catdad77a45's review
3.0
The conceit of this play is really quite wonderful; unfortunately, I found the execution to be a bit more wanting. The dialogue is rather stilted, and often hard to parse, and the play really doesn't get going till the end of the first act, in which Elizabeth finally makes her plea to Ned that they each teach the other how to enact their true genders. I thought it might fare better in execution on stage, but there is an amateur production on YouTube that rather proves that not to be the case (although inadequate acting might be to blame there): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY9C6wRVf-A&t=10s
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