James V Katherine Festival Theatre Studio Edinburgh 13th April 2024 Review
James V: Katherine, the latest instalment of Rona Munro’s renowned James Plays, is at the Festival Theatre Studio from Friday 5 to Saturday 20 April. This A Raw Material and Capital Theatres co-production is really two stories woven into one – the formative years of the rise of the then punishable by death, Protestant faith in Scotland and the personal life of the powerful and well connected converters to the new faith, the Hamilton Family, and brother and sister Patrick (Benjamin Osugo) and Katherine (Catriona Faint ) who are directly related to King James V of Scotland (Sean Conor).
To review this work objectively it has to be put into its proper timeframe of events. James was born on 10 April 1512, and crowned King of Scotland at only seventeen months old on 21 September 1513. Until he came of age to rule, Scotland was administered in his name by a regent. We move forward a few years now to 1527 and 1528, the first year of his official rule as King. Despite still being only 16 years old, James was now the ultimate power in Scotland and that included his authority to uphold at all costs his Catholic faith and the authority of the Pope, the Church of Rome, and the Scottish Catholic Church. This young King was going to deal harshly with anyone who questioned either his authority as King or his Catholic faith.
At the start of this narrative we focus heavily on the relationship of brother and sister Patrick and Katherine, and his impending marriage to Katherine’s childhood friend Jenny (Alyth Ross). There are stories within stories unfolding here right at the start including the secret, but really not so secret, forbidden love affair between Katherine and Jenny and although this relationship is as much a central part of this story as the political and religious upheavals of the day, it is never really given the time it deserves to be properly explored in the relatively short 75 minutes performance time of this work as so many other events have to be put into place here. This is also where creative imagination and historical facts start to form a new narrative as for some reason there is no surviving historical record of who Patrick Hamilton married.
Benjamin Osugo (as does Sean Conor) performs more than one role in this production but it is his portrayal of Patrick, who is written as being a bit of a dreamer always living in his own world, that puzzles me. Yes, Patrick is at this point in time single minded and committed to his faith, but I get little sense of someone who knows that his actions will quickly mean his death and the persecution of many of his relatives and close friends. There is for me none of that burning intensity of faith that I would expect Patrick to have here, more often in fact a man who seems to be at conflict with his inner self. A lot of this is more to do with how Patrick Hamilton is written as a character than how he is performed. Patrick Hamilton was to become the first Protestant martyr to be burnt at the stake for his faith in 1528, an event that had wide reaching religious and political consequences in the years to come.
Sean Conor gives a very distinctive performance as a very energetic James V who is at times almost manic, but still underneath all of this someone who has an instinct for politics and how to manipulate any situation to his best advantage. Between them, Katherine and James also have some very funny exchanges of dialogue.
Always somewhere in this story is Jenny and if there is any tenderness, any warmth and any depth to characters it is here between Jenny and Katherine. Here Alyth Ross (Jenny) and Catriona Faint (Katherine) are believable in their portrayal of two young women in love with each other, both knowing full well that the society of their time will never allow their relationship to become a public one.
James V had many faults (as did all the James Kings) as a ruler of Scotland and is probably best known today as the father of Mary Queen of Scots who became Queen upon his death when she was only six days old on 8th December 1542. This work does, however, give us a glimpse into the early years of his reign.
Although never intended to reflect this event, I found watching this work where one wrong word, one wrong act against authority and faith could lead to such harsh reprisals, I could not help but think about how the new Scottish hate crimes laws could, if we are not very careful, be so easily perverted to make our society not more tolerant but less tolerant and this work reflects a time that we never want to return to, a time where people are afraid to speak out against authority and injustice for fear of reprisal.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
To review this work objectively it has to be put into its proper timeframe of events. James was born on 10 April 1512, and crowned King of Scotland at only seventeen months old on 21 September 1513. Until he came of age to rule, Scotland was administered in his name by a regent. We move forward a few years now to 1527 and 1528, the first year of his official rule as King. Despite still being only 16 years old, James was now the ultimate power in Scotland and that included his authority to uphold at all costs his Catholic faith and the authority of the Pope, the Church of Rome, and the Scottish Catholic Church. This young King was going to deal harshly with anyone who questioned either his authority as King or his Catholic faith.
At the start of this narrative we focus heavily on the relationship of brother and sister Patrick and Katherine, and his impending marriage to Katherine’s childhood friend Jenny (Alyth Ross). There are stories within stories unfolding here right at the start including the secret, but really not so secret, forbidden love affair between Katherine and Jenny and although this relationship is as much a central part of this story as the political and religious upheavals of the day, it is never really given the time it deserves to be properly explored in the relatively short 75 minutes performance time of this work as so many other events have to be put into place here. This is also where creative imagination and historical facts start to form a new narrative as for some reason there is no surviving historical record of who Patrick Hamilton married.
Benjamin Osugo (as does Sean Conor) performs more than one role in this production but it is his portrayal of Patrick, who is written as being a bit of a dreamer always living in his own world, that puzzles me. Yes, Patrick is at this point in time single minded and committed to his faith, but I get little sense of someone who knows that his actions will quickly mean his death and the persecution of many of his relatives and close friends. There is for me none of that burning intensity of faith that I would expect Patrick to have here, more often in fact a man who seems to be at conflict with his inner self. A lot of this is more to do with how Patrick Hamilton is written as a character than how he is performed. Patrick Hamilton was to become the first Protestant martyr to be burnt at the stake for his faith in 1528, an event that had wide reaching religious and political consequences in the years to come.
Sean Conor gives a very distinctive performance as a very energetic James V who is at times almost manic, but still underneath all of this someone who has an instinct for politics and how to manipulate any situation to his best advantage. Between them, Katherine and James also have some very funny exchanges of dialogue.
Always somewhere in this story is Jenny and if there is any tenderness, any warmth and any depth to characters it is here between Jenny and Katherine. Here Alyth Ross (Jenny) and Catriona Faint (Katherine) are believable in their portrayal of two young women in love with each other, both knowing full well that the society of their time will never allow their relationship to become a public one.
James V had many faults (as did all the James Kings) as a ruler of Scotland and is probably best known today as the father of Mary Queen of Scots who became Queen upon his death when she was only six days old on 8th December 1542. This work does, however, give us a glimpse into the early years of his reign.
Although never intended to reflect this event, I found watching this work where one wrong word, one wrong act against authority and faith could lead to such harsh reprisals, I could not help but think about how the new Scottish hate crimes laws could, if we are not very careful, be so easily perverted to make our society not more tolerant but less tolerant and this work reflects a time that we never want to return to, a time where people are afraid to speak out against authority and injustice for fear of reprisal.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com