Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Liz Duffy Adams’s “Or,” from New York’s Women’s Project, is a quasi-historical farce about the bisexual 17th-century English playwright, novelist and adventuress Aphra Behn.

So King Charles II and his actress mistress Nell Gwynne put in appearances as Behn’s putative lovers, as does William Scott, her real-life lover.

Behn was a poet and pamphleteer as well, and possibly the first Englishwoman to live by her pen. She was also a British spy in Antwerp, with the help of Scott, employed by the Dutch government. With him, she seems to have spent time in Suriname, the former Dutch Guiana. She definitely did time in debtor’s prison, and was briefly married to Johan Behn, a Dutch merchant.

Her love affairs were numerous, though surely not with Charles and probably not even with Gwynne, her leading lady.

Regardless, the play makes a running gag out of Aphra’s repeatedly rushing to her escritoire to jot down a couple of lines, often amid the amorous shenanigans that inspire them.

“Or,” (the comma is part of the title, for reasons not worth explaining), reflects also on the 1960s, which stretches credibility as well as chronology. Aphra is played solely by Maggie Siff (the Jewish department-store heiress from TV’s “Mad Men”), while Andy Paris and Kelly Hutchinson play multiple roles. A certain amount of fun is eked out of Paris’s popping up one minute from Aphra’s armoire as Scott, and the next minute out of her boudoir as Charles.

Sweet Sailing

Adams tries and fails to fuse Stuart-era and sixties lingo, but as far as I can tell her only nod to the former is an occasional “Odd’s fish!” uneasily rubbing against phrases like “getting knocked up.” Flowery utterances such as Charles’s, “You have drawn me onto a lee shore and wrecked me there, and I believe only you can draw me off again, to safety and sweet sailing, if you would,” ring false for either era.

Siff is a competent Aphra; Hutchinson, droll as her maid, is too hectic as Nell. Paris has fun hamming up three roles without managing to differentiate them enough.

Wendy McClellan has directed acceptably, though Zane Philstrom’s decor lacks the ingeniousness required to overcome budget restrictions.

“Or,” comes across as the work of a sedulous student who has somewhat shakily swatted up the period without being quite ready for the metropolitan theater.

Through Dec. 13 at the Julia Miles Theater, 424 W. 55th St. Information: +1-212-239-6200; http://www.telecharge.com. Rating: *-1/2

What the Stars Mean:
****       Do Not Miss
***        Excellent
**         Good
*          Poor
(No stars) Worthless

(John Simon is the New York drama critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are their own.)

To contact the writer of this column: John Simon at jis1925@aol.com.

Last Updated: November 18, 2009 00:00 EST