Award-winning playwright Rona Munro, who penned the trilogy of James plays that premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh International Festival, returns with a fourth play, James IV – Queen of the Fight, that will also be directed by Laurie Sansom. The plays, that brought to life three generations of Stewart kings who ruled Scotland in the tumultuous fifteenth century, were acknowledged as a landmark event in Scottish and UK theatre at the time.
In James IV – Queen of the Fight, the setting is Scotland in 1504, seen fresh through the eyes of two Moorish women, Ellen and Anne, who were expected to take their place at a royal court….but not this one. Both women now have to fight to find and keep a place in the dazzling, dangerous world of the Scottish Court of James IV. It’s a world where war is never far away, words of love and promises of peace are not what they seem and where poets might turn out to be more dangerous than any assassin.
Writer Rona Munro said “The first three James Plays – James I – The Key Will Keep the Lock, James II – The Day of the Innocents and James III – The True Mirror, were among the most exciting and the most satisfying theatre productions I’ve ever been part of. To be able to continue this work, with Laurie and with this team is, for me, to continue that excitement. My larger ambition is to extend the Stewart history of Scotland through James V, Mary Queen of Scots and to conclude with James VI who became James I of England. My hope is that I can make this history more accessible, make those invisible in history visible again and provide a representation of the most potent and telling truth of history- it was made by people like us.”
The production from Glasgow-based independent company, Raw Material and Scotland’s largest theatre charity, Capital Theatres in association with National Theatre of Scotland will open at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh in the autumn of 2022 before touring Scotland.
Gillian Garrity and Margaret-Anne O’Donnell of Raw Material said “We are beyond thrilled to be working with Capital Theatres on this new production of James IV – Queen of the Fight by Rona Munro. As independent producers we are acutely aware of the need for high quality Scottish plays that can perform on some of our largest stages. This past year has been challenging across all parts of our sector and we look forward to heralding the return of our creative artists to venues and stages with the best stories and plays that will entertain and delight audiences across Scotland and beyond.
“Through a new co-producing partnership with the incredible team at Capital Theatres led by Fiona Gibson, a script by Rona Munro, direction by Laurie Sansom and support from the National Theatre of Scotland we are raring to go and very much looking forward to touring James IV to audiences across Scotland in autumn 2022.”
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 