A sumptuous gold gown. An ornate gold throne. A queen, alone.
This is the resonant last image of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s riveting new production of Mary Stuart. This production, adapted by Peter Oswald from Friedrich Schiller’s 1800 masterpiece and directed by Ian Gallanar, is for this moment.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and this Machiavellian drama speaks to our times. Judges are damned. The court of public opinion is called upon. Sycophantic courtiers have the ear of the inconstant, wily, capricious, vain ruler. Mercy is exchanged for political expediency. What could go wrong?
We know the outcome of this play because it is history. Elizabeth I, known as the Virgin Queen for fending off all male suitors to her throne, has one rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, bound to her by blood.
Mary, a devout Catholic, has schemed for a united throne of Scotland and England, and the play opens with her banished, imprisoned, and under threat of death. She will be executed at the end, but only after a protracted struggle and a protean performance by Mary Stuart (Lise Bruneau).
Elizabeth I (Lesley Malin) has spent her life solidifying her own disputed grip on power as a female ruler and heir to the newly established Church of England. Her performance is less subtle but no less effective. Elizabeth yields raw power over those around her. This Elizabeth knows how to manipulate and bend those to her will, all except Mary Stuart.
The absolutely most powerful scenes in this play about absolute power involve the one wholly fictional character, the invention of a widely lauded English playwright who adapted this work — Mortimer (Joshua Williams).
Mortimer is a young nobleman who leaves puritanical England for Italy’s richness, idolatry, and artistry to rediscover Catholicism and Mary, Queen of Scots. He has the belief of a convert in her. A fanatic for her cause, Mortimer is also the nephew of Amias Paulet, knight and guardian of Mary (played with earnest conviction by Steven Todd Smith). He devises a plan to rescue Mary Stuart even as she does not want to be rescued by him.
In the process, Joshua Williams as Mortimer gives the play’s breakout performance. All the complexities of power, justice, desire, and want are present in his Mortimer. His belief in and passion for Mary Stuart take an ugly turn in an emotionally charged scene where his physical desires clash with his political ones. This actor has a slow-burning fire in him that lights up the stage alongside Lise Bruneau’s fiery and feisty Mary Stuart.
Indeed, the scenes throughout the play with Mortimer are breathtaking, delving into the machinations of power and showcasing the breadth of its possibilities — and this actor’s.
On the other hand, the explosive climactic meeting between the two queens left this reviewer rooting for Mary over Elizabeth as she at first begs her cousin for a reprieve, for compassion, then refuses to bend to her. Anything but another narcissistic autocratic head of state, no matter the historical accuracy. When Mary is led to her death by her faithful confidante, played with heartfelt Scot toughness by Jamie Virostko, one mourns not only the death of her political ambition, but the death of mercy in all political spheres.
The other courtiers who are gathered around Elizabeth — Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (DeJeanette Horne), an insipid and convincingly conniving William Cecil, Lord Burleigh (Michael P. Sullivan), and an aging and eloquent George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury (Gregory Burgess) — each have their moment to challenge Elizabeth. However, this Elizabeth is no virgin to power. They must each, in turn, bend to her will or whim or lies.
The brisk directorial pacing and the spitfire poetic lines move the action at a fast pace. The minimalistic staging is well-suited both to this theater as well as to placing the two Queens front and center. The costumes are anything but minimal. All the silk and lace, pomp and circumstance, of Elizabethan royalty are captured in Elizabeth’s gowns and are a perfect contrast to Mary’s reserved, spartan simplicity, and dazzling next to her noblemen’s flamboyant attire. Costumes are designed by Kristina Lambdin, and hair and wigs are by Hannah Brill.
On a final note, this performance of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Mary Stuart is dedicated to Joanne Malin, a “queen of the theatre,” and mother of Lesley Malin, who not only plays Elizabeth I but is CSC’s Producing Executive Director. An honor to note this, for all the mothers who encourage us to do our best in this challenging world.
Running Time: Two hours and 45 minutes, one 15-minute intermission.
Mary Stuart plays through May 18, 2025, at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, 7 South Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD. Adult tickets start at $59, tickets for youth 25 and under start at $31. Purchase tickets by calling 410-244-8570, visiting the Box Office in person, or ordering online. For directions, parking, transportation, and other plan-your-visit information, click here.
The program for Mary Stuart is online here.
Mary Stuart
By Friedrich Schiller
Adapted by Peter Oswald
Directed by Ian Gallanar
CAST LIST
Queen Elizabeth I: Lesley Malin *
Mary Stuart: Lise Bruneau +
Robert- Dudley, Earl of Leicester: DeJeanette Horne*
George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury: Gregory Burgess *
William Cecil, Lord Burleigh: Michael P. Sullivan *
William Davison: Isaiah Mason Harvey *•
Amias Paulet: Steven Todd Smith
Mortimer: Joshua Williams *
Count Aubespine: Lloyd Marcus *•
Count Bellievre: Kaitlyn Fowler
O’Kelly/Lord Kent: Nicolas Dureaux Picou
Drugeon Drury/Sherif: Michael Changwe
Melvil: Paul Diem
Hanna Kennedy: Jamie Virostko
Understudies: Adrian Bagarić, Jacqueline Chenault, Chris Rio Liu, Laura Malkus*, Nicolas Dureaux Picou, Nathan Rosen
CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Ian Gallanar*
Production Manager: Lauren Engler*
Assistant Director/ Production Associate: Dawn Thomas Reidy *•
Production Stage Manager: Caroline Johnson
Set & Projection Designer/Technical Director: Dan O’Brien*
Lighting Designer: Dean Leong
Costume Designer: Kristina Lambdin*
Music Director: Grace Srinivasan*
Props Artisan: Paige Stone
Sound Designer: Sarah O’Halloran*
Fight & Intimacy Director: Lorraine Ressegger–Slone
Dramaturg/Text Coach: Abraham Stoll
Dialect Coach: Gerrad Alex Taylor*•
Style Coach: Mary Ann Jung
Hair/Wig Designer/Wardrobe Supervisor: Hannah Brill
Assistant Stage Manager: Tyrel Brown *•
Assistant Technical Director: Chester Stacy *
Board Operator: Kai Singleton
Production Intern: Preaundrea Franklin
* Notes a CSC Company Member
• Notes a CSC Black Classical Acting Ensemble Member
+ Notes Actors’ Equity Association Member
