Hampstead Theatre, London – until 26th November 2022
Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith
3***
Mary is the sixth instalment in The James Plays, Rona Munro’s women centred cycle of plays about the mediaeval monarchs of Scotland. It’s 1567, and we are witnessing three characters as they argue for and against Mary, the troubled Queen of Scots as she is set to marry the frankly detestable Earl of Bothwell. Agnes (Rona Morrison) is a maid who is firmly Protestant and condemns the Queen, and Thompson (Brian Vernel) is a servant who we first meet in a bloodied pile on the floor but who quickly rises through the ranks in opposition to Mary thanks to the Lords who want to de-throne her. Finally, we meet Sir James Melville (Douglas Henshall), a loyal courtier, skilled diplomat, and a morally decent man who is shaken to the core by things he has witnessed at court.
The argument has a contemporary resonance. Whether someone has been raped, whether they should be believed, and whether once the truth is known, anything is done with that information. Mary’s destructive relationship with the Earl of Bothwell is examined from every angle, and the character’s positions shift while the actual and apparent truth collide. Women are seldom given a fair shout in history, especially when it comes to the monarchy. As Munro says herself, “Women’s narratives have often been twisted to serve other interests and destroy their own experience”.
The cast work well together under the direction of Roxana Silbert. Morison, Henshall, and Vernel do well with the heavy dialogue and minimal physical action, but there are moments of humour and rage which provide some change in what is quite an evenly paced play. Ashley Martin-Davis’s set is beautiful and simple, and provides a clean and clever backdrop for the main action. The set and the lighting design by Matt Haskins are expressive, using shadow and light to change the scene and add suspense. Mist hangs ominously in the air over the stage as the characters argue and debate.
Mary is an ambitious balance of the personal, the political and the religious. It asks questions about accountability and political persuasion, and uses the historical context to make some very contemporary statements which feel very 2022.