History? It’s just the same thing over and over again, isn’t it? No. Not exactly, Woody Allen was just having a laugh, even if his joke hinged around a kernel of truth.
Yet, that doesn’t mean it’s a simple task to take a historical tale and weave it into a wondrous piece of theatre that grabs audiences by the throat. That’s why writer Rona Munro deserves the sort of applause that leaves inner ears aching and palms sore.
Munro’s James Plays have played a massive role in educating theatre audiences in Scots history, tracing the history of the country through the reigns of the generations of Stuart kings.
However, the didactic benefit has not diminished the entertainment value at all, the writer offering up narratives as dramatic as the dark, brooding and dangerous Scotland of the time commanded.
Now, Munro’s latest episode in the series, James V: Katherine, is again based on historical events, but chooses to centre-stage a woman in order to capture the era. It’s a time in which Protestantism arrived and James V’s uncle Henry VIII’s break with Rome. “The play is different in tone and style to the first four,” says the writer. “But will continue with their larger story.”
The James V play features the life of Katherine Hamilton, a 19-year-old woman facing arrest and trial at the King’s court. Hamilton was charged after her brother, Patrick, a Lutheran, was burned at the stake in St Andrews after preaching ideas deemed to be an assault on the values of the church, which was declared to be one of the key events at the start of the Scottish Reformation.
However, Katherine Hamilton is not ready to join her brother in the afterlife. In a packed courtroom at Holyrood, with key figures from Edinburgh in attendance, including young King James V, she fights for her survival, using her intelligence and wit. “If a young woman made you smile, you wouldnae want to see her set on fire, would you?”
Such is Hamilton’s oratory and command of comedy while taking the stand, she makes an impression on young King James, who ‘laughs heartily’ and then takes her aside for a private conversation.
Aside from Katherine Hamilton’s quick mind and acerbic delivery, Rona Munro also reveals a hidden love story that’s key to event. On the face of it, Hamilton is a respectable married woman, yet the reality is she harbours a secret love story. And the real love of her life is another young woman, who refuses to leave her side.
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As always, the play arrives with a clutch of Rona Munro’s customary poignant lines that can cause the minds of an audience to stop dead in their tracks. “Any human soul has only two real choices. How we live, and how we die,” she offers, via Katherine. That brings in the question; What is worth dying for? Is it love? And will the young woman in court save herself by denouncing her own brother – or does she believe his death may affect the future of Scotland forever?
And as is customary for Munro’s James plays, despite the dramatic stakes being as a high as an execution pyre, the piece has more than its share of comedic moments.
This time around however, the James Play won’t be touring Scotland’s largest halls. This standalone show will tour smaller theatres, town halls and arts centre offering ‘an epic tale presented as an up-close and intimate performance.’ James V: Katherine features Catriona Faint in the lead role, who received rave reviews for her performances as Annie in Enough of Him, and Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning, in which she appeared as Jonathan Harker.
Rona Munro meantime can’t quite believe the success she has enjoyed for her James Plays. “When I first imagined writing this series of Scottish history plays it seemed very unlikely, I would have one produced in Scotland, let alone five, however I’ve always known the stories I want to tell with each play. So, at this moment, when Katherine is going into production, is the realisation of a long-held ambition.”
The writer adds; “In continuing the cycle, I want to surprise audiences with fresh narratives. This play was always intended to be very different in tone and style to the first four but will continue my ambition to make invisible histories visible.”
James V: Katherine, also features, Sean Connor, Benjamin Osugo and Alyth Ross. The play opens at Capital Theatres’ the Studio Theatre, Edinburgh, April 10-20, and tours Scotland, including Glasgow’s Tron Theatre, April 25-27.
Don’t Miss: An Officer and a Gentleman: The Musical
If you loved the 80s movie starring Richard Gere, you won’t want to miss this retelling of the Cinderella story, played out in a flying officer’s uniform and a factory girl’s headscarf. Yes, it may sound a little out of tune with present times, but who can deny that love can appear when you least expect it, particularly if Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong is soaring in the background.
The King’s Theatre, Glasgow, until March 9.
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