‘Elizabeth: Heart of a King’ rises to challenge

Condensing more than 60 years of British history into just a few hours is no small feat; even Shakespeare managed a couple of flops on that front. But playwright Lorella Loftus and The Vortex Repertory Company meet the challenge head on in “Elizabeth: Heart of a King,” playing now through Saturday at The Vortex.

Beginning in 1546, when England’s Queen Elizabeth I was just a teenage girl (Angela Loftus), the show follows the “Virgin Queen” through middle age (Lorella Loftus), and into her final years ( Jennifer Underwood) — trading out actresses as the queen ages and history continues its inevitable march forward.

A large supporting cast fills out Elizabeth’s substantial retinue, doubling and tripling up on ancillary roles to cover the panoply of lords and ladies that made their mark in time. With Ann

8 p.m. ThursdaySaturday

The Vortex, 2803 Manor Road. $10-$30.

www. vortexrep.org Marie Gordon’s extremely minimal set design, we focus on the dialogue and action, remaining less concerned with the details of time passing. Similarly, Pam Fletcher Friday quite effectively equips the actors in simple black, adding colorful accessories to help us distinguish between characters.

Some of the other production elements bog things down somewhat. Patrick Anthony’s lighting is often unflattering and too dark, and though David DeMaris offers decent sound design, his video/projections are somewhat erratic and consequently distracting.

However, director Karon Jambon adds a nice touch by making explicit the inescapably public life of the queen: having the ensemble sit on the sidelines throughout the performance up until the very end when Elizabeth is left alone with her various selves.

For the most part, we move quickly through history — jumping from pivotal moment to pivotal moment in an array of short and climactic scenes. As Loftus has written them, most scenes start quietly and end dramatically, which makes for a rhythmic and oddly steady pace, though crisper transitions would help maintain the energy from scene to scene. And in spite of some strange surrealist flourishes that don’t work particularly well — especially Elizabeth’s visitation by the ghost of Mary Queen of Scots — Loftus’ script keeps us engaged, if not on the edge of our seats.

Likely an enjoyable evening for any history buff, “Elizabeth: Heart of a King” is unavoidably rather long but interesting nevertheless.