A prince of clowns

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Percy Gower (Bradley Armacost, right) regales William Shakespeare (Kevin Gudahl) with tales about his youth as a comic actor in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s "Elizabeth Rex." | Photo by Liz Lauren.

Updated: January 17, 2012 8:52PM

We believe that humans are the only creatures aware of our own mortality, and the theme of mortality gets quite a workout in “Elizabeth Rex,” the drama now playing at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

“It was a curious choice for a holiday production,” said Bradley Armacost, who plays Percy Gower in the show. “ ‘The Christmas Schooner’ it’s not.”

Armacost, who lives in Evanston, has a string of credits at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, including “Cymbeline,” “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” “Antony and Cleopatra,” “The Comedy of Errors,” “The Merchant of Venice,” and “Timon of Athens.” Plus he recently appeared in the theater’s critically acclaimed “The Madness of King George.”

“Elizabeth Rex” by Timothy Findley received its world premiere at the Stratford Festival in July 2000, with Diane D’Aquilla as the queen. She reprises that role with Chicago Shakespeare.

The drama certainly deals with gender-bending issues, (note Rex instead of Regina) but it also has continuous undertones of death, imminent, approaching and inevitable.

In the story Elizabeth joins Will Shakespeare and his actors one evening in a barn, hoping to be distracted as she waits for the dawn when the man she may have loved, the Earl of Essex, will be executed for treason.

“She is waiting for the hour of his death, dreading it,” Armacost declared. In addition, an actor in Shakespeare’s company who played women’s roles is dying at the height of his career of a highly contagious disease, a situation that sadly, has been repeated in our times.

“It was written at the height of the AIDS crisis,” he continued. “So his death is imminent and he knows it.”

Armacost’s own character, Percy, had been one of the playwright’s great comic characters. “He says to Shakespeare, ‘I was your Prince of Clowns. You wrote Shallow (in “The Winter’s Tale”) for me.’

“He was a Red Skelton, who took the pratfalls and got all the laughs.” the actor said. “Now he can’t remember his lines. So he is facing mortality, too.”

In addition to his work with Shakespeare, Armacost has worked at Goodman Theatre and Northlight, and is an artistic associate of Provision Theater Company. He also appeared as narrator with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and Richard Strauss’s “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.”

His long career included a period as a writer in Hollywood. “Now I’m part of the Evanston Mafia of acting families,” he said, laughing and adding that his son and Jessie Mueller of the well-known Mueller family of actors did voice overs and acting jobs together when they were children.

It’s not easy being an actor — job security is non-existent, but Armacost has a few guidelines which have helped him through the years. “You network, you keep your resume current and enjoy whatever part you’re playing.” He paused, before adding, “and then be nice. Don’t be a jerk.”

As for whether “Elizabeth Rex,” a play about impending mortality, was a good choice for the holidays, Amarcost admits any doubts have evaporated.

“The play’s been extended through Jan. 22,” he said. “So it was a good choice.”