{"id":155218,"date":"2026-03-06T12:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155218\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:36:34","slug":"mary-queen-of-scots-review-sadlers-wells-two-queens-make-a-formidable-pair-in-a-ballet-that-spans-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155218\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary, Queen of Scots review, Sadler\u2019s Wells \u2013 Two queens make a formidable pair in a ballet that spans decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scottish Ballet\u2019s Mary, Queen of Scots is a sweeping, stylised account of two queens \u2013 Mary<\/a> as remembered by her cousin, England\u2019s Elizabeth I<\/a>. Covering three countries and many decades, the ballet sometimes sprawls, but it\u2019s packed full of ideas, and danced with fierce conviction.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Scottish Ballet has built a reputation for sharp story ballets, from a Silicon Valley Copp\u00e9lia<\/a> to its stark retelling of The Crucible. Created by different teams, these productions share a contemporary sense of theatre, with a dash of the surreal.<\/p>\n

The new Mary, staged at Sadler\u2019s Wells, was co-created by Sophie Laplane, Scottish Ballet\u2019s resident choreographer, with director James Bonas, who collaborated on The Crucible. We see Mary\u2019s life through the dying Elizabeth\u2019s eyes: guest artist Charlotta Ofverholm moves through the action, observing and reaching into the story, interacting with her younger self. Perhaps unexpectedly, Elizabeth becomes the more nuanced figure: while Roseanna Leney is a glamorous Mary, luxuriating in Laplane\u2019s moves, the production gives her less inner life.<\/p>\n

Moving from France to England to Scotland, Laplane creates distinctive moves for the hierarchies of each court. Monarchs loom over their subjects: Mary stalks grandly on pointe, with those around her standing flat-footed. Early on, young Elizabeth is literally on stilts, with Harvey Littlefield commanding in a role that can be played by a dancer of any gender. Things become more layered when we see characters as Elizabeth imagines them. Mary transforms into a spider to consume Evan Loudon\u2019s Darnley, other dancers providing extra stabbing limbs.<\/p>\n

Throughout, Soutra Gilmour\u2019s designs amplify the danced images. The French queen Catherine de\u2019 Medici\u2019s huge, steel farthingale evokes both a prison and a climbing frame. Walsingham, Elizabeth\u2019s spymaster, sends out agents wearing insect masks, crawling across Mary\u2019s private life. The erotic first duet for Mary and Evan Loudon\u2019s Darnley is full of power play, her finger in his mouth; there\u2019s a wonderful moment when Thomas Edwards\u2019 Walsingham has to replay it all for Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

\"Evan<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Evan Loudon as Darnley in Scottish Ballet\u2019s ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ (Andy Ross)<\/p>\n

Most dramatisations of Mary and Elizabeth can\u2019t resist bringing the two heroines together, for a meeting that didn\u2019t happen in history. This ballet keeps them apart, even showing proxies dancing for them. The storytelling is full of stylised distances. Kayla-Maree Tarantolo\u2019s lime-green jester prods the action forwards, an image of fate as both perky and heartless.<\/p>\n

Laplane and Bonas play with narrative and expectations \u2013 a strength, but also a weakness. This long, complex story sags in places, overloaded with plot points that need more time to breathe. But it bubbles over with energy and thought, ardently performed by everyone involved.<\/p>\n

Until 8 March. www.scottishballet.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scottish Ballet\u2019s Mary, Queen of Scots is a sweeping, stylised account of two queens \u2013 Mary as remembered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-155218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}