The cast I saw had gender-fluid casting. As Younger Elizabeth, Harvey Littlefield’s height was effective in marking out Elizabeth’s singularity in her prime and the many outbursts of her unrestrained temper. The costumes of Mary (Roseanna Leney), which are all simple and plain black, mean that, together with her severe Mary Quant bob, she is always able stand out as the titular character on a busy stage.

There are some notable set pieces of choreography. The duo danced by Mary and Darnley (Nicol Edmonds) is a violent, suggestive, indeed explicit, partnering reminiscent of the inventive pas de deux in the bedroom scene in Kenneth MacMillan’s “Mayerling” (an adapted version of which is in the company’s repertoire). A duo followed for Darnley and Rizzio (Bruno Micchiardi), both in punk outfits, sculpted arms against sleeveless T-shirts. Likewise violent and sexualized, this duet showcases Laplane’s choreographic solutions for when partners in violent intimacy are of the same type of strength and size.

The most attention-grabbing element, however, is the ensemble. Always eight or ten in number, they come on stage in a rushing stream of mob-like motion, arrestingly costumed, each time in a different role in the French, English, or Scottish court (115 costumes for a cast of 17, according to the program).

Most dramatically, the ensemble bring about three violent deaths, each differently theatrical, all to shouts of approval from the audience. In the first death, a male corps in black is bent low, and as in “Bolero,” its members unceasingly circle a figure on a low dais, in one direction, then the other, all the while accompanied by insistent drumming (original score by Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson) until the person dies. This skillful manipulation brought the first roar of applause from the audience. In Rizzio’s death, as in history, the ensemble stabs him dozens of times before Mary’s eyes; the choreography has him reeling from one to another, also to insistent drumming. The use of a female ensemble in the death of Darnley implies Mary’s consent. Their stacked shadow, cast on the backdrop, took the shape of a giant centipede, whose legs then kill Darnley. Startlingly, the last two deaths were accompanied by a cry at the moment of death.