BLOODY MARY resurrected! New play brings voice of murderous queen back from the dead

Photo credit: Ashley Garrett Photography

After Covid cancelled its premiere last year, dark comedic new play Bloody Mary: LIVE! about the notorious Queen of England plays from 24 August-5 September 2021 at The Treehouse as part of Assembly Festival Garden for the Coventry City of Culture 2021.

The show features Mary Tudor, otherwise known as Bloody Mary, as a teenager, performing a snarky stand-up set to explain why she burned all those people at the stake. In her set, she confesses what it was like to be the daughter of Henry VIII, to watch her parents go through the worst divorce, like, ever, and to grow up a little bit jealous of her younger sister Elizabeth I. This biting new play is written and performed by Olivia Miller, who was shortlisted for the 2020 Les Enfants Terribles Award. 

New York artist Miller first began writing her debut play Bloody Mary: LIVE! while completing her MFA in Acting at the Brown University/Trinity Theatre program in 2019.

Miller said: “At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the fact that I saw myself in someone who burned so many people at the stake. But before Mary went all in on the torches, her fire burned differently: she was an incredibly devoted daughter, a highly educated woman, and a fiercely passionate believer. And then…well, trauma’s a bitch: she endured divorce after divorce, the death of her mom, being removed from the line of succession, being a lady in waiting for her baby sister, threats from her father, abuse from her father, and the list just goes on. There’s a tragedy wrapped up in the horror of what she became - so naturally, I’ve written a comedy. I find Mary’s journey to be endlessly fascinating, artistically rich, and equal parts devastating and hilarious; I hope you will as well.”

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.