FESTIVAL FEATURES | The James Plays
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T H E J A M E S P L A Y S
14 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–25 Aug 2014
P H O T O © M A N U E L H A R L A N
JAMES I: THE KEY SHALL KEEP THE LOCK The king returns ●●●●●
Henry V makes a cameo appearance in the opening scene of Rona Munro’s trilogy of history plays, a canny nod to Shakespeare’s iconic historical drama. These plays move coni dently out of the shadow of the great Shakespearean history cycles, capitalising on strengths of contemporary theatre such as pace, energy and feisty vernacular language.
James I (James McArdle) arrives back in Scotland to claim his crown after 18 years in an English prison, with an English queen’s ransom on his head. He i nds a threadbare throne, insubordinate subjects and a court so full of treacherous nobles it makes Games of Thrones look tame. Though he rallies them behind the idea of Scotland with an inspiring speech, to secure his position he must challenge the thuggish Stewart clan with a ruthlessness of his own. Munro adeptly covers chunks of complex history very quickly, homing in on a handful of key moments, and Laurie Sansom’s coni dent production can shift almost instantly from large-scale choreographed i ght scenes to moments of intimacy and poetry. Jon Bausor’s set, allowing for seating in the round, sets out the ambition of the trilogy, and there are great performances from the ensemble, including Blythe Duff as the fearless Stewart matriach and Peter Forbes as the scheming Balvenie. (Susan Mansi eld)