A dash of Game Of Thrones, a pinch of Braveheart, a spoonful of Bridgerton and a sprinkling of, ahem, 42nd Street…
Those are all flavours that north-east playwright Rona Munro says can be found in her latest acclaimed play about Scotland’s Stewart dynasty, James IV – Queen Of The Fight.
It’s a thrilling and epic piece of theatre that Rona believes will delight audiences at His Majesty’s Theatre and Eden Court while dispelling any notions of dull but worthy historical drama.
“There is still this perception that if it is a history play, then it’s going to be something indigestible and incomprehensible and slightly worthy,” said Rona, who was born in Bieldside and went to Stonehaven’s Mackie Academy.
James IV is about spectacle, excitement and danger
“But folk are not going to get what they expect. A mash-up of Game Of Thrones, Bridgerton and Braveheart might be a more accurate way of letting them know what they are in for. It’s about the spectacle, about the excitement, about the danger.”
And where does 42nd Street – the famed musical set backstage of a Broadway production – come into the mix for James IV and its setting of 1504?
“It’s also about the shows that were a big part of asserting power in medieval Scotland, the displays of power and illusion of power that are actually theatre,” said Rona.
“So these spectacles about making the Scottish crown look good also have this backstage world of intrigue where the people who are in favour or out of favour are trying to get one up on each other.
“It’s almost like 42nd Street, or Fame, where you see backstage, but also see the stakes are incredibly high in their life and death or war and peace.”
This is the latest instalment in Rona’s cycle of “James” plays, charting the Stewart monarchs who ruled Scotland. The opening trilogy – James I, II and III – has already been hailed as a landmark event in Scottish theatre.
James IV makes visible Scotland’s invisible history of diversity
The story follows two Moorish women, Anne and Ellen – the latter played by Aberdeen actor, Danielle Jam – who arrive at the court of James IV and have to fight to find their place in a world of intrigue and plotting, where war and violence is a heartbeat away.
Rona hopes Queen Of The Fight, which sees her reunited with director Laurie Sansom, will be a spellbinding experience for audiences and also shed light on a period of Scottish history of which few people are aware. Not just the powerplays involved in the dazzling but dangerous royal court but also for the remarkable diversity of medieval Scotland.
“What we are always trying to do with the James plays is make invisible history visible,” said Rona.
“The Iberian peninsula had a Moorish kingdom for hundreds of years, so there have been black people in Europe for centuries and a significant number of them ended up in Scotland. I think it will surprise a lot of people that that happened as early as this in the 16th century.
“It’s a piece of Scottish history that’s been made completely ignored and made invisible. It’s not about talking about integrating now or being a diverse community now, it’s about saying we always have been and it goes back this far.”
Rona Munro wants folk to be excited and entertained by their own history
James IV – presented by Raw Material and Capital Theatres in association with the National Theatre Of Scotland – has been hailed by critics as epic, hilarious, shocking and grand. Rona hopes Aberdeen audiences will find all that and more.
“I want them to come away thinking it wasn’t what they expected, loving it, having been thoroughly entertained and been excited by their own history.”
And she is also delighted that her work is coming to His Majesty’s – and reveals this is the first time one of her original plays, as opposed to her many adaptations, has been staged in her hometown theatre.
“I have a mixture of delight and apprehension, especially with Danielle playing the lead and being an Aberdeen quine as well. It’s that sense of bringing it home, but you really want home to like you.”
Rona – who credits her “fantastic” teachers at Mackie Academy for setting her on the course of a glittering writing career – is not done with the Stewarts.
Rona Munro tells of working with Dougie Henshall on new play
On the day we were talking she is deep in rehearsals for Mary, telling the story of Mary Queen Of Scots, which is opening at London’s Hampstead Theatre starring acclaimed Scots actor Dougie Henshall.
This will be his first stage work since his dramatic exit from iconic TV series Shetland, and Rona says he is a joy to work with, in a play she describes as an “intense political thriller”.
“He’s one of the nicest men you could ever meet. You get that a lot with actors of enormous talent, they wear their power lightly and have nothing to prove. Having that energy in the room is a gift to any writer, you just see your words come to life.”
Beyond Mary, there are more Stewart plays in the wings. Rona hopes it will eventually be a complete cycle of seven. But why is she drawn to this Scottish dynasty?
“I think this period of history fascinates me because it is so closely connected to our own. We think of it as being far distant, but so many of the building blocks of our current society were put in the ground then. This is the foundation we stand on and we barely examine it,” said Rona.
“The other thing is because it’s in a world where the physical danger for most people is higher, it’s a bit more heightened. It allows you to look at the big themes that are still part of our world now, like racism, like misogyny, like the religious tension between Catholic and Protestant Scotland, in way which is also a metaphor.
Big, bold statements in James IV at His Majesty’s and Eden Court
“You can make bolder, bigger statements and make it much more entertaining and digestible for an audience. You can put big things out there and people can absorb an awful lot when it comes in the form of a good historical drama.”
James IV – Queen Of The Fight is at His Majesty’s Theatre from Wednesday October 26 to Saturday October 29. For information and tickets visit aberdeenperformingarts.com
It will then run at Eden Court from Wednesday November 2 to Saturday November 5. For information and tickets go to eden-court.co.uk
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