Mary Tudor was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in 1558. She was nicknamed “Bloody Mary” after she had more than 280 Protestants burnt at the stake during her five – year reign. As a devout catholic, she tried to force England back to the Catholic faith after it had moved toward Protestantism under her father and brother.
The show starts with a man, who we later find out to be Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, writing on a blackboard the words “Mary was a strong handsome queen. Intelligent, independent and powerful she will forever be remembered as such”. Throughout the play these words are erased and replaced with others.
This play is set around Mary and her prisoner, Cranmer, as they debate whether he should be executed for treason and heresy or pardoned. Throughout this debate we are led back in time to Mary’s cruel upbringing, including the death of her mother, Catherine of Aragon, and the execution of her friend and maternal mentor, Margaret Pole.
These flashbacks are simple, a subtle change in lights and the switching of the archbishop’s hat. Some changes where confusing but was made up for with powerful changes in character as the actor showed Mary’s character maturing through the years.
During Mary’s short life she was taught what it meant to be a woman in court. To be quiet and poised, to not show emotion. That a girl was useful, but a boy was better. This comes back to haunt her in her later years when she must stay silent during the death of her mother and the allocation of a new king, her younger brother, Edward VI.
In the end, after years of anguish and betrayal, she sends Thomas to be burned at the stake. He is then seen wiping the words off the blackboard and replacing them with “monster” “wicked”, and “weak”.
This clever re-telling of “Bloody Mary’s” life challenges the image in which she is remembered by and is a must see if you’re in any way interested in history or female icons.
Molly Reay
Burn, 15:55, The Vault at Paradise in The Vault, 8th-15th
