JAMES V: KATHERINE | SCOTTISH TOUR @ THE STUDIO, EDINBURGH
★★★
“There are some impressive turns in this four-hander…”
1528 and a Scotland in religious turmoil provides the backdrop for Rona Munro’s fifth ‘James Play’ which, unlike its predecessors, swaps spectacle for intimacy and grandesse for the simplicity of candle light, illuminated banners and a wooden bench dressed with a single bouquet of flowers.
Patrick Hamilton expects to be burned at the stake for heresy, his sister Katherine shares his beliefs but can’t believe such a day will ever come, and Jenny, his wife to be, will soon find herself begging both to recant. Catholic king, James V, is on the throne. As Hamilton becomes the first protestant martyr, the future of his widow and sister remain in jeopardy as they become caught up in the politics of religious intolerance, then as problematic as it is today.
James V: Katherine is a series of conversations, conversations between Patrick and Katherine, Katherine and Jenny, and James V and Katherine, but then all good theatre should be a conversation, an exchange between characters and between playwright and audience, and as Munro explores the early reformation, a time of seismic change in Scottish society, those conversations offer a unique interpretation of events that changed the nation forever.
Inspired by documented facts, coloured with a series of ‘what if’ musings, Munro paints a picture of a country fighting to remain Catholic as a queer love story unfolds, emerging from the shadows of theological debate to take centre stage. It’s a thought-provoking piece that may lack the gravitas afforded to earlier plays in the series but celebrates Munro’s ever-present and sweetly sharp wit – funny, fearless and occasionally unexpectedly blunt.
A consummate storyteller, Munro doesn’t need prop laden sets to hold the attention, everything is in the flow of her words, which in this production is enhanced by designer Becky Minto’s minimalist design and Derek Anderson’s atmospheric lighting, while Orla O’Loughlin’s crisp direction makes full use of the limited stage space she has to hand. Add in Danny Krass’ bass driven sound design and you have a compact and complimentary package that works well within the constraints of the smaller playing space.
If there is an unevenness to this production, it’s in the odd occasional struggle to capture Munro’s melodic vernacular, but there are also some impressive turns in this four-hander. As Constable and King, Sean Connor owns the stage in the pivotal scenes he shares with Catriona Faint, who excels as the central focus of the piece. Connor milks his gormless Constable for laughs, subverting the sinister nature of his message with guileless charm. Contrastingly, his wide-boy James V is a cleverly calculating authoritative figure, chilling in his deliberations with Faint’s conflicted heroine. Faint herself is terrific, her comic timing and delivery a joy to experience, her emotion, truthful and touching. This is her show.
The cast is completed by Benjamin Osugo who, as reluctant groom and would be martyr Hamilton, is strangely devoid of fire and brimstone and equally restrained as Spence, the cleric charged with overseeing the Ecclesiastical Court that holds Katherine’s life in the balance. Alyth Ross, meanwhile, makes Jenny a steely, sympathetic soulmate for both Patrick and Katherine. It’s a solid professional stage debut.
All four should be applauded for their handling of a ‘show stop’ on opening night caused by audience illness, which they handled with admirable finesse.
James V: Katherine is another fascinating instalment of Scotland’s history seen through the eyes of Munro, though one that adds little to those that have gone before while still offering an enjoyable, more personal diversion from the epics of the series.
