If you love big stories, as I do, then the National Theatres of England and Scotland have a treat for you. They’ve combined forces with this year’s Edinburgh Festival to create an epic trilogy of plays that tell the stories of James I, II and III of Scotland, one king per play.The first explores how James 1st is forced to take charge in Scotland after spending his youth imprisoned by Henry V. The whole trilogy starts with an electric exchange between the two monarchs, Henry dying but full of violence and bile, James rather bewildered but demonstrating that he’s not as dim as he looks having studied Henry’s failed battle strategies. Theory is one thing but taking control of the powerful and feuding Scottish war lords proves very tricky. The dialogue is free and peppered with the F word so this is not for you if that makes you uncomfortable. It is however entirely suitable language for these wild men of violence.
This isn’t just a chronicle of power struggle however. It also has at its heart a love story that is touching, funny and romantic.
This isn’t just a chronicle of power struggle however. It also has at its heart a love story that is touching, funny and romantic. James is forced into marriage with the wilful Joan who’s as unworldly as him. As they learn to make each other happy the king also learns how to win his subject’s respect. There are so many terrific performances in this play. James McArdle conveys all the subtle complexities of the reluctant kind whilst also managing to be as sexy as hell. Stephanie Hyam wins our heart as Joan just as surely as she captures her husband, Sarah Higgins is her endearingly straight talking maid and Gordon Kennedy and Blythe Duff perfectly capture the ruthlessness of a power couple, heads of the feral Stewart dynasty, who oppose their new ruler.
In play two we first meet James and Joan’s son, the future James II as a frightened child, buffeted between various ambitious politicians who’d win control of the boy and with him Scotland, following the death of his father. Once again the politics is balanced with a story of a royal couple, apparently ill matched but succeeding against the odds in making a success of their married life and governing the realm. Central to the story is also the lifelong friendship between James and William Douglas which combusts in a long and riveting scene in which alliances are questioned and tested. Superlative performances all round again.
In play 3 the dangerously charismatic and volatile James III takes the throne. As beautifully portrayed by James Sive he’s a strutting mess of insecurity and lust for men and women and dangerously quixotic in his switches of focus. There’s another dysfunctional Royal marriage but this time the queen comes to eclipse her husband when Sofie Grabol (Star of TV’s the Killing) turns in an extraordinary performance as a passionate yet level headed Danish noblewoman forced to rule when her husband cannot.
If you can only see one of the plays then the first is most satisfying, the third gives you the opportunity to watch Grabol in action and only the second really needs to be seen as a companion piece to either of the others.
It’s all played out with the minimum of furniture on a bare stage dominated by a 20ft high dagger which remains jammed into the floor throughout, reminding us of the ever present threat of violence. The costumes are a flattering combination of medieval with a modern twist very much as they are in Game of Thrones on TV.
If you’re a fan of the unexpected twists Thrones has taken, a visit to one or all of these plays will prove to you how close to real events the fantasy series is.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys historical drama, thrillers and romances.
Despite my low opinion of this play, it was better than I expected – only because I expected it to be really awful. Lohan proves that she can remember lines and move around the stage, but the acting wasn’t particularly convincing.