Through haunting original music and rich spoken word, an actor-musician band deliver a feminist retelling of Mary Queen of Scots' story. The folk-rock show searingly questions the treatment and portrayal of women historically and today. Following a sold-out production in February, the Marys are back by popular demand for the Fringe.
Mary themselves, writer Rona Johnston, and co-producer/director Katie Slater talk with Corr Blimey about bringing their hit show back to audiences this Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Want to know more? Why not Have a Gander at our Josie's review of the show from earlier in the year!
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
Katie: Mary: A Gig Theatre Show is a depiction of Mary, Queen of Scot's life story, told through bold, new gig theatre.
Gig theatre often escapes a set definition, but for us, it is a live band telling a story. Our band is made up of six talented female actor-musicians who play our original folk-rock songs and underscore the spoken word throughout. The show provides an emotional, but often surprisingly funny, response to the hardships Mary faced at the hands of men.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
Katie: So, I'm a director/drummer/producer from Midlothian and Rona is a singer-songwriter/actress/playwright/marketing extraordinaire from Dumfries and Galloway. We met whilst studying Drama at Queen Margaret University, which is where Mary began in 2022 as part of a gig theatre research project. We wanted to learn more about how we could combine our love for doing gigs with making theatre. Both of us already loved Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play, Mary Stuart, so that was our starting point for a 15-minute version of our show. Rona wrote and performed all of the songs, and then we collaborated on the underscore and spoken word sections, and shared it to a wee audience at QMU.
In November 2023, Rona wrote a 45-minute version of the show for the Gateway Festival at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. We recruited our full band of Hester Irving, Laura Coull, Alli Von Hirschberg, Izzie Atkinson and Jodie Kirkwood who are all brilliant emerging creatives based in Edinburgh. The process was really collaborative, all of the girls wrote their own parts for their instruments. It was a mammoth task in a short space of time, writing and rehearsing 50 minutes of non-stop original music in a few weeks, but it happened. We were blown away by the response to that version, so did it again in February this year where we sold out.
Now, we are so excited to be bringing the show to the 2024 Fringe with our original cast. We are bringing it under the name of Knot Tied Theatre, the now official title for collaborations between myself and Rona. The name may or may not be inspired by a lyric from our hypothetical musical adaptation of Christopher Nolan's The Prestige.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
Katie: Exhilarating but scary. I feel really proud of what Mary has grown into, and I'm so excited to share it with more people at such a huge festival. So far, we have only performed the show as a "one-night-only" thing, so I also can't wait to do it for the full week. However, the scale of The Fringe is slightly terrifying, it is easy to get lost in the sea of shows. The tight get-in is also what is keeping me up at night, especially when we are trying to set up a full live band every night. In 15 minutes.
I feel really grateful though that we have lesser financial pressures on us by already being based in Edinburgh, and we are supported by the QMU Vice Chancellor's Fund.
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
Katie: Gig theatre! Out of the thousands of shows, there are only a few shows doing gig theatre. At the moment I think the only productions marketing themselves as such are us, A Giant on the Bridge and Titswingers (to anyone reading this, if I am missing a show, please do let us know). It is such an electrifying and unique form of theatre to watch, I always leave gig theatre so moved.
We are also tried and tested! We've been working away on the show for a couple of years so do check out the lovely reviews we've gathered. Or go by this audience review written on a post-it note at our February show; " "What a phenomenal piece of gig theatre. A story beautifully told! This is a piece that *NEEDS* to be seen by many, many, many, many more audiences in Scotland and beyond".
And, we have Rona on our side. The detail of her lyrics is unmatched and gorgeous.
Is there anything specific you're hoping the audience will take away?
Rona: The key thing we're trying to do with our show is bring a new perspective to Mary, Queen of Scots, specifically her relationship (or rivalry) with Elizabeth I. We treat both women with empathy and really want to highlight the role that power-hungry men played in their hatred of each other. They were playing a losing game - trying to be Queen in a man's world - and we hope that audiences will see that and understand the importance of solidarity in female relationships.
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who's watching? Or more importantly – who isn't there…
Rona: Our ideal audience is anyone who's willing to rock out in a theatre with a ragtag band of Marys (the band take on the roles of Mary Beaton, Mary Seton, Mary Fleming, and Mary Livingston, the woman by Mary Stuart's side throughout her life). There are plenty of opportunities to clap your hands and sing along, but also softer moments to make you reach for your tissues.
Unless you're a Lord Darnley superfan… this one might not be for you.
It's an intense month, so where you're able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
Rona: They say if you're doing something you love it doesn't feel like work… Between juggling the show with their day jobs, flyering and going on intermittent vocal rest, it's going to be hard for the Marys to find the time to relax! But we plan to catch as many shows as possible (especially the other gig theatre on offer at the Fringe!) and absolutely 100% will NOT be going out drinking after the show!
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
Rona: We'd love for smaller/new companies to be able to shine at the Fringe! It's so expensive to get your show out there; we've been very lucky in managing to secure some funding and have access to instruments and equipment that we already own. But, in general, fortune favours the ones with a fortune to spend - it'd be amazing to see lesser-known theatre-makers get support from those who can give it.
Interested in being featured on our Have a Gander page? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we're always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming 'Have A Gander'
No comments:
Post a Comment