Fringe review: MARY, QUEEN OF ROCK!, Assembly Ballroom
Edinburgh, are you ready to rock?! Pretty Knickers Productions - a female-led Scottish theatre company that creates poignant work with women at the heart - return to the Fringe for their second year.
The year is 1561 and the Scottish Reformation has enforced an outright ban on rock ‘n’ roll. After 13 years, Mary Stuart returns to Scotland with one goal: to get the country rockin’ again! With the Scottish nobles and her cousin Queen Lizzie against her, can Mary get the country rocking? Or will heads roll?
Mhairi McCall, Cal Ferguson, and Lewis Lauder wrote and composed the show, while Lana Pheutan and Jenny Tamplin directed it. The show provides the refreshing taste of contemporary musical theatre, which Scotland is currently lacking. Mary, Queen of Rock! enables audience access to an iconic Scottish story in a new and accessible way. The music is cleverly used to represent the conflicting ideologies in the nation at the time, with styles including rock, pop and traditional musical theatre. The show provides some serious bangers including ‘I’d Do It All Again’ (which will soon be in every Scottish drama school student’s repertoire) and ‘Loud Woman’ which has everyone up dancing!
The cast consists of writers McCall as Mary Queen of Rock, who shows great vocal ability, and Ferguson as a comedic Moray. The rest of the cast multirole superbly to bring the show to life. Joining them are Cameron Banks as Knox/Rizzio and Niamh Kinane as Mary Livingston/Bothwell. The standout performances have to be Sarah Dingwall as Mary Beaton/Darnley, Tiana Milne-Wilson as Mary Seton/Marie De Guise and Nicola Alexander as Mary Fleming/Queen Lizzie. The three provide excellent characterisation and are incredibly funny in their delivery.
Mary, Queen of Rock! leans into a concert-style performance and is very much in line with popular shows SIX and Lizzie: The Musical. The show is energetic, fun and fabulous - constantly breaking the fourth wall and engaging the audience. The only downfalls are the script does lack detail in parts, and some of the cast’s voices, although fantastic, may not be the best suit for the rock quality needed in this show. So with more development, there is no reason why this show can’t go far!
Mary, Queen of Rock! provides 80 minutes of sheer delight, and is definitely a show to add to your Fringe watchlist.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Catriona Lamb
Mary, Queen of Rock! plays at the Assembly Ballroom until 25 August, with further info here.