THEATRE

 Or, takes place (mostly) during one night in the life of Aphra Behn, poet, spy, and soon to be first professional female playwright. Sprung from debtors’ prison after a disastrous overseas mission, Aphra is desperate to get out of the spy trade. She has a shot at a production at one of the only two London companies, if she can only finish her play by morning despite interruptions from sudden new love, actress Nell Gwynne; complicated royal love, King Charles II; and very dodgy ex-love, double agent William Scott – who may be in on a plot to murder the king in the morning. Can Aphra resist Nell’s charm, save Charles’ life, win William a pardon and launch her career all in one night? Against a background of a long drawn-out war and a counter-culture of free love, cross- dressing, and pastoral lyricism, the 1660s look a lot like the 1960s in this neo-Restoration comedy.