In Lyric Stage’s ‘Or,’ quill pen proves mighty

Alas, in Liz Duffy Adams’s clever simulacrum of a Restoration comedy, which is set in the London of the late 1660s and draws its inspiration from (but is not constrained by) historical characters and events, Aphra keeps getting pulled away from her writing table.

Demanding Aphra’s attention, sometimes simultaneously, are King Charles II, for whom she feels admiration and attraction but from whom she wants to maintain independence; the celebrated actress Nell Gwynne, who is equally captivated by Aphra’s play and Aphra herself; and William Scott, a hothead whom the budding playwright knew back in her days as a spy.

To Aphra’s surprise and dismay, William shows up in her parlor with a claim of a plot aimed at the king and a threat to blow the lid off what, in his view, is a lie that Aphra has been telling the world.

These personal, political, professional, and romantic complications notwithstanding, “Or,’’ - there’s that comma again - could use an extra layer or two of story. At 90 minutes, it feels a bit slight, with a too-abrupt ending.

But there’s a bracing intelligence to Adams’s writing that is matched by three sterling performances: by Stacy Fischer as Aphra; by Hannah Husband as the flirtatious yet regal Nell, plus two minor but exceptionally vivid characters; and by Ro’ee Levi as the dashingly sympathetic Charles, the desperate and ruthless William, and a gruff jailer irked that Aphra keeps rhyming his sentences.