- Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, June 12 to Sept. 14 at Vanier Park in Vancouver. For schedule and tickets, visit bardonthebeach.org or call 604-739-0559.
HER freshly shaved head is a stark reminder of human vulnerability and the certainty of old age.
Of course, she could have opted to wear a latex bald cap, but most actresses who take on the role of Queen Elizabeth I, including North Vancouver's Colleen Wheeler, voluntarily lose their locks.
"You have to go there and shave your head and face your own demons," Wheeler says, "remove all sort of artifice."
Wheeler is playing the title character in Elizabeth Rex, by Canadian writer Timothy Findley, at Bard on the Beach. Directed by Rachel Ditor, the contemporary work is the only non-Shakespeare play lined up for the 24th annual Shakespeare festival, which runs June 12 to Sept. 14 at Vanier Park.
The story takes place on the eve of an execution. The queen's former lover, the Earl of Essex, has been jailed for treason and is to die by her order at dawn. In need of distraction, she spends the night in a barn with Shakespeare and his acting company.
During the play, the English monarch only once removes her signature red wig, revealing a patchy bald scalp - thought to be the result of a bout with smallpox - but Wheeler says going hairless for the summer will help her relate to her historic character. She has also studied the history books and identified a human side to the iconic queen.
"I think she was a very lonely person at times in her life," Wheeler says, explaining the Virgin Queen, as she was often called, never married.
"I think the play itself is about her finding a way to grieve the fact that she's putting her lover to death and I think we can all relate to grief in a way," she adds.
Including Elizabeth Rex in this season of Bard on the Beach is part of a new festival mandate to produce contemporary works that complement Shakespeare's world and themes.
Wheeler, a company member at Bard on the Beach for 11 seasons, says this show will appeal to history buffs and Shakespeare fans alike.
"There's a lot of really accurate historical reference, so it sort of brings you into the world of the Elizabethan court a little bit and into some of the history that was embroiled at the time."
Rounding out the 2013 Bard on the Beach season are Hamlet and Twelfth Night, which will be shown in the 742-seat mainstage tent, and Measure For Measure, playing in repertory with Elizabeth Rex in the 240-seat studio stage tent.
Wheeler also plays a side role in Measure For Measure, Shakespeare's dark comedy about hypocrisy, sexual repression and justice. The play's antagonist, Angelo, is portrayed by actor/director David Mackay, who grew up on the North Shore and attended Windsor secondary. Angelo assumes power after Duke Vincentio mysteriously leaves town.
"As soon as he gets power he starts calling shots and putting into law strict statutes, particularly against sexuality, that have immediate repercussions on members of the community," says Mackay, explaining his character eventually falls criminal to his own harsh laws.
The show has a comic side, he says, but the humour is rooted in satire.
"We're not just laughing at gags or things for the sake of them being funny," says Mackay.
In a unique twist, director John Murphy has set Measure For Measure in the early 1900s in jazz-age New Orleans, contrasting the sensuality of the musical culture against the Catholic tradition of the region.
Putting a new spin on a Shakespeare classic is not new at Bard on the Beach, but it's a creative approach the festival's artistic director Christopher Gaze admits he didn't always embrace.
"I used to react very badly against all this and wanted my Shakespeare just straight up like a martini," Gaze says, "but over the years I've grown with it all and I love the fact that you can put plays in different times and realize them in different ways. But you need to be smart, you need to be clever and don't let the concept distort the play."
Born in England and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Gaze came to Canada in 1975 and founded Bard on the Beach in 1990. It's his job to decide on the program each year.
"What you're looking for is balance, as we all are in life," he says. Any given season will typically feature a comedy, a tragedy and a romance from Shakespeare's canon, but the selection process follows no prescribed formula.
"It's all feel and gut, frankly," Gaze says. While many arts organizations struggle to stay afloat, Bard on the Beach is thriving and in 2011 erected an expanded-capacity mainstage tent with an open end, allowing actors to perform against a backdrop of water and mountains.
Gaze has an idea why the festival continues to draw crowds year after year. "When you come to Bard it's an event, and people love that," he says, adding that tents, to him, are always a sure sign of celebration.
"It's the quintessential sort of Vancouver experience. You don't have to go into an environmentally controlled black box and say goodnight to an exquisite evening outside. You stay with it. You watch the sun go down and that's a beautiful thing."
Bard on the Beach Run dates and special events:
Twelfth Night - June 12 to Sept. 14 (mainstage)
Hamlet - June 13 to Sept. 12 (mainstage)
Measure For Measure - July 3 to Sept. 13 (studio stage)
Elizabeth Rex - July 5 to Sept. 11 (studio stage)
Bard Explored: Lecture Series - July 15 and 29, Aug. 12 and 19
Bard Explored: Shakespeare's Rebel - Book launch and sword fight event - July 22
Bard-B-Q & Fireworks - Play plus sit-down salmon barbecue and fireworks viewing: July 27 and 31, Aug. 3
