BWW Reviews: MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS GOT HER HEAD CHOPPED OFF, King's Head Theatre, June 3 2013

Mary Queen of Scots did indeed get her head chopped off and Liz Lochhead's intense, sometimes brutal, 1987 play, revived in London for the first time in 25 years, tells us why. It's a complicated story of lust for power and lust for men with a resonance far beyond its time, with violence in the name of religion and the question of Scottish independence vying for front page prominence today.

As our puckish narrator, La Corbie (Shelley Lang) explains, in the 16th century, this island had two queens: one, Protestant, virginal Elizabeth (Sarah Thom) in prosperous England; the other, widowed, Catholic Mary (Nora Wardell) in bleak Scotland. When Mary returned from France to assume the Scottish throne - worldly, pretty and taller than her already staid English counterpart - something had to be done.

With John Knox (Prentice Hancock), a zealot who doth protest too much that he is merely a man of God, agitating against her and her religion and a feckless husband, Darnley (Sean Hart), providing neither political cover nor personal satisfaction, Mary becomes isolated and, ultimately, imprisoned. Then, with an echo of Blackadder's explanation of the reasons for the outbreak of the First World War, at the age of 44 she gets her head chopped off - because it was just too difficult to do anything else. Despite the extraordinary flowering of the Scottish Enlightenment in between times, many of the same sectarian issues stalk Scotland today - as the playground bullying and sing-song coda makes clear.

As a play, it's not an easy ride. Much of the dialogue is in a Scottish brogue that needs careful attention at first to decipher - with the exception of Sarah Thom's very Thatcheresque voice and mannerisms as Elizabeth. The politics (national and personal) are easier to follow, but harder to understand. Quite how Mary - educated, beautiful and nobody's fool - could be seduced so easily by such unsuitable men and then fail to build a coalition of interests to protect her person, if not her kingdom, is hard to fathom. Elizabeth's powerplays from south of the border make more sense - but why did she not make use of so strong a potential ally instead of locking her away, building her cult day by day until martyrdom?

There are layers of density in Liz Lochead's script that, in the intense environment of this intimate space, break over our heads in wave after wave. If you can keep your head above water, there's much to admire in the performances and the sweep of the play's ambition. But make sure you have a good night's sleep before taking your seat, as you'll need to concentrate hard and listen even harder to make the most of TheatreUpClose's bold and brave production.

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off continues at the King's Head Theatre until 22 June.

Photo credit - Chistopher Tribble

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