In my early 20s, I took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. One workshop scene was from Ugo Betti’s “The Queen and the Rebels.” In it, Argia, a woman of ill repute, is mistaken for the Queen and captured by rebels who interrogate her and sentence her to death. While trying to prove her identity, Argia has an epiphany: This is her chance at royalty, to die not as a dishon...