The Peterborough Players will produce the U.S. premiere of Marcia Johnson’s Serving Elizabeth, the recent enthralling play by Canadian playwright Marcia Johnson.
Described by Johnson as a “drama, comedy, romance”, the play asks big questions about representation and unconscious bias while giving voice to long underrepresented truths. Directed by award-winner Cezar Williams (artistic director of the Fire This Time Festival) the show is on stage from July 21 to 31 at the Players.
The year is 1952. Mercy, a Nyeri, Kenya restaurant owner is vehemently anti-monarchy – and has also been given the opportunity to cook for the visiting Princess Elizabeth, moments from her ascension to throne. With her daughter by her side, can she still stick to her principles? Or is this an opportunity of a different kind?
The year is also 2015. Tia, a Kenyan-Canadian film student is an ardent fan of the royals – and is also interning on a splashy new TV series, all about Queen Elizabeth II. When she reads the episode about then Princess Elizabeth’s visit to Kenya, she begins to question what she’s been a fan of all along. Can she use this opportunity to make her feelings known? These two distant timelines come together in a surprising turn-of-events, exploring colonialism, nationalism, unconscious bias, and what happens when the story that gets told isn’t really the truth.
“At its basic level, it’s about representation,” says Williams. “But what Marcia Johnson, our playwright, has managed to do in a comedy is point out that what we focus on proves what matters to us. And so, she takes this story that we’ve all heard a million times about Queen Elizabeth, and she tells it from another perspective. It’s hilariously told.”
The cast features Players’ favorites Tracey Conyer Lee (Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill around the country, Our Town at the Players) as Mercy / Patricia; Douglas Rees (Arsenic and Old Lace at the Players, Our Town at Alabama Shakespeare Festival) as Talbot / Maurice, and Kate Kenney (Our Town at the Players, A Christmas Carol National Tour) as HRH Princess Elizabeth / Robin. New company members Courtney Thomas (Emotional Creature at Signature Theatre) and Philipe D. Preston (To Kill a Mockingbird at TheatreWorks) play Faith / Tia and Montague / Steven, respectively. Scenic design is by Jason Simms; costume and wig design is by Stephanie Echevarria; lighting and sound design is by Kevin Frazier; props design is by Emily Allinson. Julia Perez and Vanessa C. Hart are Equity Stage Management.
There will be a talkback with members of the cast and creative team after the show on July 24. Pay-what-you-can tickets for Serving Elizabeth will be available on July 22 to anyone who needs assistance accessing tickets to Players’ productions. We invite patrons to attend that performance, with a guest, for whatever they feel they can pay. Tickets must be reserved ahead of time through the box office: (603) 924-7585.
Single tickets for Serving Elizabeth are $47, and on sale. Barn door flex passes are available throughout the summer season. Tickets can be purchased at peterboroughplayers.org or by calling the box office at (603) 924-7585.