Review: BLOODY MARY LIVE! Part of the Night - Assembly Festival Garden, Coventry
Photo credit: Ashley Garrett Photography
Teen Queen Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary as she is more commonly known, takes to the mic to tell her side of the story. Tackling the drama that surrounded her life in a gleefully vicious stand-up performance.
Written and performed by Olivia Miller, this one-woman show was shortlisted for the 2020 Les Enfants Terribles Award and it’s clear to see why from the outset.
Miller engages well with her audience. There is a tiny amount of audience participation and her quick-thinking improvisation is both clever and hilarious, we almost forget that we might get picked on next!
It’s not the happiest of stories. Mary Tudor earned her infamous nick name of ‘Bloody Mary’ because she burned 293 people at the stake, but what led her to become this cold-hearted Queen?
When we look back into history, we are all very quick to make a judgement on someone else’s life and jump on the bandwagon that the person was evil, etc, etc. However, if you take into account that in Mary’s case her Father was an adulterous, murdering King who didn’t really feel anything towards his daughter, no matter how hard she tried to please him purely because she was not a boy, it makes you rethink the whole story.
Miller puts this point across perfectly. “How many of you”, she asks, “have ever been mean to your Mother?” A show of hands. “Then had your Father exile her so that you could never see her again and apologise and tell her how much you loved her?” Just one hand remained. “And then she died!”
It’s no wonder Mary went on to seek revenge on the people that ignored her when she begged for their help as soon as she became Queen, and hence began her bloody reign.
Bloody Mary Live! is an entertaining evening of performance. You learn a bit of history, have a few unexpected laughs and form an alliance with a dead murderous Queen! What more could you ask for?
***** Five Stars
Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin
Bloody Mary Live! plays at the Assembly Festival Gardens, Coventry until 5 September. To book tickets, please click here.