|
The tagline for Vivat! Vivat! Regina - 'Mary of Scotland, Elizabeth of England - Two Queens. One Crown' - promised a night of high historical drama and gripping tension and as the lights came up on the stage, commanded by an imposing throne and hung with swathes of red velvet, it seemed that it might live up to expectations. Unfortunately, the play seemed to be missing an essential drama. Elizabeth (played by Anthea Halstead), popular as the feisty, headstrong Virgin Queen, was portrayed more as flagging than fired up and her passion for commoner Robert Dudley (Kevin Roychowdhury), a man for whom the Queen supposedly intended to give up her crown for, was almost non-existent. This portrayal wasn't all bad, however, as it showed clearly the difference between the two women, although it perhaps would have been more interesting if some of the similarities were also shown.
There were however, high points: the lives of both monarchs were shown as being interspersed with moments of extreme drama and tension and the Mary of the production (played by Clare Lawrance) was easy to correlate with the spoilt, flirtatious queen of our history books. The Reverend John Knox and Lord Bothwell, Mary's love interest, were similarly well-interpreted.
In short, Vivat! Vivat Regina! was a mixed bag. There were certainly moments of excellent acting and directing but interspersed with moments at which the audience was allowed to grow restless, waiting for the next point of interest, although often this was the fault of the playwright, not the actors. Perhaps if Bolt had focused solely on the events of the time or solely on the emotions of those involved, the play as a whole would have worked better. The overall verdict then? Good, but not necessarily a riotous night out for non-history buffs.
Hannah Bunting and Flo Glanfield
Sudbury Upper School
2nd October 2009
|