King's Head Theatre Presents MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS GOT HER HEAD CHOPPED OFF, May 29-June 22

Exploring the rivalry and mutual fascination between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I, Liz Lochhead's Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off re-tells this murky tale of political and sexual intrigue with ferocious wit and innovation and examines Mary's legacy through the eyes of Corbie, a carrion crow who is her unseen attendant through life and death.

Previously only seen in London for one week at the Donmar Warehouse in 1987, it will get its first full London season, 25 years after its Scottish premiere, directed by Olivier Award Winning La Bohème director Robin Norton-Hale at the King's Head Theatre, Islington, from Wednesday 29 May - Saturday 22 June.

Press night is Friday 31 May at 7.15pm

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off could not be more timely in an age when the question of Scottish Independence is back at the top of the political agenda. The play makes the link between contemporary Scottish sectarianism and the power politics of the French Catholic Mary and the English Protestant Elizabeth, the virgin queen. and examines the way contemporary Scotland's sense of identity has been forged by the myths of its history.

The cast features Nora Wardell (Mary), Sarah Thom (Elizabeth), Shelley Lang (La Corbie), Sean Hart (Darnley), Jamie Laing (Bothwell), Prentis Hancock (Knox), Michael Longhi (Riccio).

Directed by Robin Norton-Hale.

Set and Costume Designer Katie Bellman.

Robin Norton-Hale said: "When I first read Liz Lochhead's play, I couldn't believe audiences in London hadn't had chance to see it, apart from a handful of performances 25 years ago. It is so vivacious, irreverent and funny - the least dry telling of a complicated historical intrigue you could imagine. It's also an enticing challenge for actors - most of them play at least five different characters."

The King's Head Theatre was London's first pub theatre since Shakespeare's time,founded in 1970 with 51West-End and Broadway transfers to its credit. Relaunched in 2010 with a revolutionary theatre and opera programme, resident companies

TheatreUpClose and OperaUpClose have become renowned for staging world premieres and first time revivals of work by some of the most well-known and respected playwrights of the modern era including Edward Bond, Arnold Wesker, Peter Gill, Nick Ward and Tennessee Williams. A major success in 2012 came with the first London revival of Williams' Vieux Carré since its West End premiere in the 1970s. It sold out and transfered to Charing Cross Theatre. Recently the theatre premiered Lionel Bart's last unproduced great musical Quasimodo, written in 1963.

Visit www.kingsheadtheatre.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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