

This line is uttered by Charles II, a relatively minor character in "Compleat Female Stage Beauty." The restored monarch is speaking of himself, but he just as easily could be talking about the play's main character: Edward Kynaston was a popular interpreter of Desdemona, Juliet and other Shakespearean females until he was unceremoniously dumped when the king allowed women to perform on public stages.

Well, that's not exactly how the history goes, but local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher took some artistic liberties in his stageplay, which was made into a 2004 movie starring Claire Danes and Billy Crudup. Walking Shadow Theatre Company is offering a smart local premiere of this tale, which, though set in the early 1600s, has plenty to say to contemporary audiences about gender roles, power and the passions that drive us.

Director John Heimbuch offers a telling of the tale that captures its paradoxes well. A trio of live musicians plays sweet period music on the hammer dulcimer and period-appropriate string instruments. Every frill and corset stay is in place in Katherine B. Kohl's costume design. But both Hatcher's script and Heimbuch's direction show a shadier side of this proper society -- debauchery and petty jealousies; gossip, ambition and the price of pride.

Playing Kynaston, Wade A. Vaughn deftly trods a fine line between the actor who plays women with masterful affectation and the off-stage man whose life is significantly more nuanced. In essence, Vaughn is an actor playing an actor playing an actress, but his performance never loses clarity through all of those refracting lenses.

The roles of Maria (Kynaston's faithful dresser) and Margaret Hughes (who becomes the first female to appear on a British stage and Kynaston's nemesis) were compressed into one role for the movie, but the story is better served by two characters.

As Margaret, Jane Froiland is stuck with the tricky proposition of being a good actress having to play a bad actress who then grows into a pretty good actress. Another set of refracting mirrors, and another clear reading of the role: Froiland's Margaret is determined but fragile, ambitious but self-aware.

Maria, for her part, loves what she cannot have, and Teresa Marie Doran brings a clear-eyed presence to the role, leavened by vulnerability and a sense of inner strength and devotion.

The rest of the 14-member cast is generally strong, from Matt Sciple's obsequious diarist Samuel Pepys (who narrates the tale) to Duncan Frost's sibilant, foppish but malevolent Sir Charles Sedley to Erik Hoover, who plays King Charles by effectively blending a regal air with frat-boy charm. Blended and balanced nicely, these are performances -- and a production -- that knows its rightful place.

What: "Compleat Female Stage Beauty," produced by Walking Shadow Theatre Company

When: Through June 2

Where: Minneapolis Theatre Garage, 711 W. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis

Tickets: $22-$15

Details: walkingshadowcompany.org or 800-838-3006

Capsule: This "Beauty" is more than skin deep.