Mary Queen of Scots, Scottish Ballet
(Centre) Roseanna Leney as Mary in Scottish Ballet’s Mary, Queen of Scots. © Andy Ross
It should have been of no surprise that a ballet about Mary Queen of Scots by Scotland’s foremost ballet company would present the English court of Elizabeth the First with some level of jest.
Courtiers shuffled on their knees and danced with pot bellies protruding out of their clothes. A jester masochistically laughed after a member of the Scottish court is stabbed to death, and later scrubbed an elderly Elizabeth in a bathtub. Stylised narrative productions can be cause for concern, but Sophie Laplane’s new work for Scottish Ballet turned out to be a masterful night of dance.
While about Mary’s dramatic life, the ballet is told from the point of view of Elizabeth I. She is on her deathbed and reflecting on her relationship with her cousin, whom she famously never met. Accompanied by death, in the form of a neon green jester, she walks from scene to scene as a silent observer.
Charlotta Öfverholm as Older Elizabeth in Scottish Ballet’s Mary, Queen of Scots. © Andy Ross
Taking on a tale about inter-country politics and a succession crisis is no easy feat. While Laplane for the most part doesn’t fall into the trap of over complicating the storyline, the first act still rushed quickly through events (her marriage to English Courtier Darnley, Elizabeth’s distress at this betrayal, his affair with and later murder of Mary’s best friend Rizzio), so much so that little space is given to properly explore motivations and justifications. Why was Elizabeth so distressed at Mary’s marriage to Darnley? Why did Darnley have Rizzio stabbed? A wikipedia history lesson in the interval was inevitably required, but one shouldn’t need to be a history scholar to understand the basics of a ballet.
With the ground-work done, the second act slowed down to reflect on Elizabeth and Mary’s relationship during Mary’s imprisonment and execution. Here Laplane employs written aids to show motivation by projecting Mary’s prison graffiti as proof used by the English to show she was plotting against their Queen. Act Two also portrayed James I birth (depicted as a balloon with ‘James’ written on). This tale is inherently about succession, so a duet to show Elizabeth and Mary’s different experiences of motherhood was a good moment to slow down. However, I question whether Elizabeth throwing her balloon baby between her legs like a toddler having a tantrum, while Mary coddled balloon James, took the cheap shots at the English one step too far. Succession was a serious and complicated matter for Elizabeth: to have a child meant she would need to marry which meant losing power as she ruled an inherently patriarchal court. I’m all for historical fantasy but this scene felt out of place when compared to the base traits of England’s Queen.
L to R Charlotta Öfverholm as Older Elizabeth, Thomas Edwards as Walsingham and Harvey Littlefield as Younger Elizabeth in Scottish Ballet’s Mary, Queen of Scots. ©ndy Ross
Complex historical politics aside, there is so much to love about this work. The score for one thing is brilliant. While modern in essence, it features Tudor like flutes to set us in the time period. Meanwhile, the sets are surprisingly minimal for a historic setting. The main set piece is three white walls which adds to the sense of Elizabeth looking back on her life; these are her memories, not real-time events. The costumes are also fabulous, with pleats and ruffs to set us in the era while being minimal-enough to allow for leg extensions and intricate duets. And then there is Laplane’s choreography. It is full of variety: classical ballet blended with contemporary that could be reaching, heavy or acrobatic, and flecks of Scottish country dance. This concoction is added to further by giving each court its own tone. Scotland is light and airy, England is heavy and imperial with a touch of the insane (again, bias).
The work is brought together by an incredibly strong cast. Evan Loudon, Bruno Micchiardi and Thomas Edwards as Darnley, Rizzio and England’s spymaster Wallsingham have great strength and presence. The wider corps were joyful as court members, imposing as soldiers and agile as spies lurking in the corner of scenes. As the older Elizabeth, Charlotta Öfverholm was a dance actor full of range (from the serious to the comic), while Harvey Littlefield was an imposing figure as the younger, and much taller, Elizabeth (side note, casting a non-binary dancer as Elizabeth is a genius piece of commentary on Elizabeth’s struggle in the Tudor court). Kayla-Maree Tarantolo’s performance as the Jester was easily a standout, executing trickily light footwork with ease and a cheeky persona. But really the most flowers have to be given to Roseanna Leney. As Mary she is ever present on stage as she leads us through this tale of romance, hope and destruction. It’s an emotionally- and dance-heavy role in which she proves herself to be an experienced and strong performer.
★★★★
Mary, Queen of Scots, Sophie Laplane. Performed by Scottish Ballet
Sadler’s Wells, London / 5 March 2026
Press ticket
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