***** (5 stars)
“Admiration, Amazement, Awe.”
Scottish Ballet have done it yet again – produced a new work which leaves me speechless, groping helplessly for words with which to express how incredible it is.
We are gripped from the opening moments, as a spotlit old crone watches in amazement as flakes of snow tumble gently around her in the darkness. Filled with joy at this sight, she is suddenly twisted in torment and crouches, anguished and frozen.
Elizabeth I of England, at the very end of her life, looks back at the turbulent life and death of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. We see Mary’s gay, carefree life in France, where with her handmaids, the ‘four Mary’s’, she rejoices in the lively atmosphere of the French court, alongside her husband, the Dauphin. His death cuts short her rejoicing, and her stern and stately mother in law, Catherine de Medici sends her back to her kingdom of Scotland.
In Scotland Mary meets and is attracted to Rizzio, who becomes part of her entourage. Elizabeth sends Lord Darnley [who has claims to both the English and Scottish thrones] to Edinburgh. Mary is bedazzled by him, marries him, and becomes pregnant: Darnley and Rizzio begin an affair, which Mary discovers. Darnley arranges for, and takes part in, Rizzio’s murder in Mary’s presence.
Elizabeth’s principal secretary Walsingham’s spy network is everywhere and sees everything. Darnley dies and Mary is accused of his murder. She gives birth to a son, James, and flees to England to seek sanctuary with her fellow Queen. Walsingham’s intelligence adds fuel to the rumours that Mary is plotting against Elizabeth; he puts pressure on the English queen to sign Mary’s death warrant. Mary is executed, a scarlet-clad martyr: Elizabeth lives to a great age – but James is waiting in the wings…
Choreographer Sophie Laplane and director James Bonas have co-created a glorious work which deserves a permanent place in any ballet company’s repertoire. Visually stunning, immensely powerful, and deeply moving, it holds the audience captivated throughout, only allowing them the release of a positive roar of acclamation and standing ovation at the final curtain. Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson’s original score is a marvel of invention, superbly played by Scottish Ballet’s orchestra under the baton of Martin Yates.
Soutra Gilmour’s set is a grey box, whose walls at times rise but then fall to create a claustrophobic backdrop for the action – most tellingly when the accusations against Mary appear and increase the pressure Walsingham is putting on Elizabeth. Bonnie Beecher’s lighting only serves to underline the atmosphere of intrigue, while Gilmour’s mostly black costumes showcase the wealth of the royal courts, black being the colour of cloth only the very wealthiest could afford. The Dauphin’s silver costume and Mary of Guise’s gargantuan silver framework and costume set them apart from ordinary mortals. Darnley’s white costume links with the cream of Older Elizabeth and the cream and gold of Younger Elizabeth, whose auburn hair streams fierily down her back. Mary’s simple velvet costume gleams richly and allows her a freedom of movement denied to her English cousin; an auburn streak in her shining black hair hints at the relationship between them. The birth and growth of James was brilliantly realised, and the insect-like spies were a stroke of genius!
And then we have the dancing… I simply don’t have the words to describe it in any technical way: all I can say is that, like everything of Laplane’s that I have seen, it’s inventive, complex and simple at the same time, graceful, joyful, expressive and an utter delight. As someone whose principal passion is opera, it’s a marvel to me that so much can be expressed without a single word. Every movement, every gesture, every look speaks volumes.
Roseanna Leney’s Mary is a marvellous mixture of passion and majesty, tender and haughty in turn, betrayed by her heart and suffering intensely. Charlotta Öfverholm is incomparable as Older Elizabeth, initially watching events with interest but increasingly conscience-stricken and remorseful. Harvey Littlefield’s Younger Elizabeth towers over everyone else on stage, the very essence of regal power until she is pressurised into signing Mary’s death warrant and instantly recoils in horror.
Thomas Edwards’ sinuous, snakelike Walsingham, Javier Andreu’s ardent, enthusiastic Rizzio and Evan Loudon’s charismatic, duplicitous and ultimately cold-hearted Darnley were all perfectly cast and all superb dancers. As ever, Scottish Ballet’s corps is made up of dancers who work perfectly together as a team and shine in all the smaller roles they are given.
And then there’s the lime-green-neon clad Jester of Kayla-Maree Tarantolo, a fascinating and unsettling observer, participant and manipulator of the action. Sometimes care attendant of Older Elizabeth, at times controller or disturbingly gleeful observer of the action, her slender form appears everywhere, both assisting and initiating the action, sometimes with loving care, at others with almost demonic joy. An ingenious invention, wonderfully portrayed.
There’s so much more I could say, if only time and space allowed. The house was packed, the last show is tomorrow: spare a thought for the dancers, giving four performances of this complex and demanding new work in only three days! I’m so happy to learn that there will be performances in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness in the next couple of months: I will want to get tickets for all four venues, to experience this fabulous piece again and again…
EIF, Scottish Ballet: Mary Queen of Scots, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh for more information go to: https://www.eif.co.uk/events/mary-queen-of-scots.
ScotsGay Arts 