By the Queen – By Whitney White; Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays and Richard III; Directed by Brian McEleney; Set Design by Michael McGarty; Costume Design by Toni Spadafora-Sadler; Lighting Design by Christina Watanabe; Sound Design by Larry D. Fowler, Jr.; Fight and Intimacy Choreography by Angie Jepson; Dramaturgy by Andrew Watring. Photo by Mark Turek. Presented by Trinity Repertory Theatre in the Dowling Theater through February 12, 2023
by Jim Phelan
It is said that good things come in threes. It is no surprise, then, that a company with Trinity in its name should produce such a “good” artistic “thing” as the world premiereof By the Queen. At the core of Trinity Rep’s production is the fundamental technique of portraying one character using three actors – one for each stage of their life. The character is Queen Margaret of Anjou. Not only a significant historical figure, she is also the only character in Shakespeare’s canon to appear in four of his plays (Henry VI – Parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III). Director Brian McEleney calls her Shakespeare’s “longest-running, most complicated, and most fleshed-out female character.” By the Queen takes the audience on a tour of Margaret’s life through the Bard’s works, guided by the three Margarets. Along the way, they offer the wisdom that can only come from bearing witness to the ups and downs, the wars and love affairs, the births and murders, which only Shakespeare (and history) can script. The result is a thought-provoking and enjoyable Shakespeare-ish story (whether or not one knows the Bard’s plays) as told through the eyes of a modern-day storyteller with a message that is all her own.
The storyteller behind this triangular technique is the first of the three “good things” on the Trinity stage. Whitney White is an Obie Award-winning playwright and Brown University/Trinity graduate. “Good thing” number two is the collective performance of those who portray this obscure queen: MFA acting candidate Fiona Marie Maguire as Margaret 1, resident company member Rachel Christopher as Margaret 2, and visiting artist Paula Plum as Margaret 3. “Good thing” number three behind this show’s success is the steady, professional ensemble of five who play the various men who have impacted Margaret’s life. These actors include resident company members Taavon Gamble and Mauro Hantman, Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting candidate JaQuan Malik Jones, and guest performers Jeff Church and Matthew Russell.
Good Thing 1: The Playwright. Whitney White has been a rising star since earning her MFA from Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company. Her experience at Trinity nudged her to explore directing, where she saw the craft from a whole new perspective. A Chicago native, she would watch live productions of Shakespeare and fail to make the connections to her own personal experience. She recalled in an interview with A.R.T., “…when I read Shakespeare, I totally hear my world. I hear my friends and family, and I see the world that I live in. So I wondered how I could unite all these worlds that I love: music, Shakespeare, really high-quality performative art, and entertainment.” This is precisely what By the Queen accomplishes. A blend of contemporary music, Shakespearean sentiments, and performance art which connects modern day dilemmas and conspiracies to similar events in the past.
White claims she was inspired when she went to see MJ on Broadway where there were three different actors playing Michael Jackson at different ages. She wanted to work on the premise of examining an entire life, being aware of how different people behave at different times. The result was a script in which the three Margarets exist in a liminal space, and interact with each other as they look back on their life as a whole. The audience learns from the Margarets as they “sit with their many selves” that “survival is a deadly game.”
Good Thing 2: The Margarets. From her roots as a provincial princess of France, to her ascension to the throne of England and her eventual downfall, Queen Margaret is a complicated, interesting, and thrilling Shakespearean character. She is a warrior, a wife, a politician, and a mother. This dynamic new drama is lifted and remixed from the text of Henry VI and Richard III. And it finally gives Margaret’s story the telling it deserves. The question posed by the elder Margaret (Plum) is “What does it take to survive?” The question may pertain to women in Shakespeare’s plays as much as it does to women of any era. The bulk of the play becomes a lengthy answer to the initial question in the form of a survival guide for women of any era. More than once the Margarets dictate a letter to their younger selves laden with sage advice which can only come from living through the bitter experiences of Shakespearean women. The youngest Margaret (Maguire) demonstrates the most dynamic arc of all the queens. Naive at first, she grows slowly into a fiercely loyal and courageous soul in the end. The middle Margaret (Christopher) plays the part of the she-wolf with plenty of passion and defiance. Her transition from a reluctant pawn in a man’s world in Act I to a vengeful, power-hungry tiger heart in Act II is subtle. What Christopher’s performance may lack in dynamism, it more than makes up for in energy and enthusiasm. Perhaps the least dynamic of all the queens is Margaret the matriarch (Plum). Plum opens the show, ends the show, and spends most of the time in between consuming a substantial amount of red wine, and producing a substantial amount of advice. (All three Margarets spend so much time holding, drinking, or getting their goblets topped off, that it becomes distracting at times. Desperate Housewives: Shakespeare Edition?) The one with the most life experience, she also has the greatest potential to reflect and learn. Plum seems to revel in the role of chief finger wagger.
Good Thing 3: The Ensemble. The ensemble surrounding the Margarets as they make their way through history plays a critical role in delivering White’s message. While the women may fall victim to romantic ideas about the past, it is the men who set the record straight, and keep the women on Shakespeare’s page. Elizabethan weddings, for example, have little to do with actual love and romance (much to the Margarets’ dismay), and everything to do with politics, politics, politics, blah, blah, blah. The men take on several roles to fill in the blank spots of the story. With the poise, purpose, and patience these men play everything from stagehands just as intensely and effectively as they play King’s sons (Edward/Jaquan Malik Jones), King’s advisors (Glouchester/Mauro Hantman), and even Kings (Henry VI/Matthew Russell, Richard III/Jeff Church). Rounding out the talented ensemble is Taavon Gamble’s portrayal of Suffolk, who causes more than just the Margarets to fan themselves.
Good things do come in threes. And there is something good for everyone in By the Queen. Old stories are made new. Young faces grow old. Love blooms and withers. Kings rise and fall. All with the help of a woman. Margaret of Anjou: daughter, bride, wife, lover, mother, queen, avenging warrior, and grieving widow. By the Queen is an age-old Shakespearean message told in a semi-modern way by a very modern storyteller named Whitney White. See it. For tickets and information, go to: www.trinityrep.com/queen
