Playwright: Michel Marc Bouchard; Translator: Linda Gaboriau. At: Cor Theatre at Frontier Theatre, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave. Tickets: 866-811-4111 or www.cortheatre.org; $10-$25. Runs through: April 9
For lesbians seeking role models from history, Queen Christina of Sweden ( 1626-1689 ) is a contradictory choice.
Some will argue that she pushed back against the patriarchy by refusing to marry and how she was valiant in trying to bring about educational reforms and peace to her majority Protestant country. Others condemn her as a selfish public-relations pawn of the pope's Counter-Reformation, when she abdicated her throne in 1654 and converted to Catholicism.
French-Canadian gay playwright Michel Marc Bouchard explores many of these complexities in Christina, the Girl King. This even-handed historical drama ( which doesn't shy away from Christina's attraction to women ) is making its U.S. debut in Linda Gaboriau's English translation in a tiny Edgewater storefront by Cor Theatre. A 2015 Finnish film version of the play also recently screened at Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center.
Clearly, Cor Theatre doesn't have a huge budget to realistically depict a 1600s period drama. There's also likely limited backstage space, too, since the actors wander and warm up in full view of the audience to piped-in house music before the play begins.
But director Tosha Fowler tries to use these limitations to her advantage by prodding audiences to contemplate modern political parallels to the difficult plights faced by a female ruler branded as an outsider. Costume designer Alarie Hammock's outfits of historically inspired modern pieces is also reflected in this approach.
But Fowler's main tactic is the non-traditional casting of Jamaican-American actress Toya Turner in the title role. This adds extra racial dimensions to the script's built-in dramatic tensions of a court being both deferential and resentful in taking commands from a female ruler.
Turner plays the role with a confrontational petulance, especially when sparring with her male courtiers ( played by the likes of Tony Bozzuto, Will Von Vogt, Adam Benjamin and Scott Shimizu ), who all scheme and try to manipulate her to do their bidding. Many women at court are no help, either, especially with the queen's mentally unstable mother ( Meg Elliott ) demanding that her daughter marry and the servant Erika ( Bridget Schreiber ) spreading all kinds of gossip.
Yet Turner also plays up Christina's loneliness and doubt, particularly when she calls upon the French intellectual Descartes ( Danny Taylor ) to help her comprehend her romantic urges toward the beautiful lady-in-waiting Ebba Sparre ( Laura Resinger ).
The ambition and non-traditional approaches by Cor Theatre in producing Christina, the Girl King is admirable, from the color-blind casting to a fair parity when it comes to depicting onstage female and male nudity. Unfortunately, the overall effort doesn't come together as a whole. The clash of modern and old design visuals isn't always reconcilable, nor are the many apparent budgetary restraints.