The James Plays, which explore the reigns of three King James of Scotland in the 15th century, comes to the Auckland Arts Festival in March. Linda Herrick talks to one of its stars, Blythe Duff, of Taggart fame
For more than 20 years, Glaswegian actor Blythe Duff filled the sensible shoes of police officer Jackie Reid in the classic ITV series Taggart, which finally ended production in 2010. Duff's Jackie was stoic and straight, a good girl who held the show together as the male cast came andwent around her, including the inimitable Mark McManus who played Taggart with all the levity of a thunderstorm.
Jackie was not prone to much laughter - Glasgow seemed to have an awful lot of crime - but Duff, on the phone from her home town to talk about the theatre trilogy The James Plays, which is coming to Auckland, proves a real hoot. And, by all accounts, the plays are too.
Set in Scotland's bloody 15th century, The James Plays, written by Rona Munro (who scripted Ken Loach's film Ladybird, Ladybird) and co-produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and the Edinburgh Festival, were a gripping hit at last year's festival, and again in London last October where they were staged at the National Theatre of Great Britain.
Billed as "more nasty winters than Game of Thrones", the trilogy traces the little-known reigns of James I, II and III of Scotland, none of whom lasted for very long. The plays were hailed as "a feast of blistering emotion and theatrical might ... often, the writing is just very funny" by the Telegraph and as "theatre that mixes the political to fabulous effect" (The Times). They come to Auckland in March as part of the Auckland Arts Festival before returning to Britain for a national tour.
Duff, 52, plays two roles and appears in each of the three plays. She particularly revels in the role of aristocrat Isabella, who appears in James I and II.
Isabella, she says with glee, is "absolutely vile", determined to undermine her usurper, James I, who has been sent to rule Scotland in 1424 after being imprisoned by the English for 18 years from the age of 13.
"She is the closest to being the Queen of Scotland that you could find at that period of history," says Duff. "Her husband has been on the throne and Isabella has had her feet under the table for a good few years and all of a sudden she has to step aside to let this new young buck come back to Scotland and take over. She's not that keen - ha ha," she cackles, "she welcomes him in some respects but it's very much on her grounds. James I and his new wife come back and very quickly Isabella sets out her stool."
A scene from The James Plays: James II, with Blythe Duff at far right. Photo / Manuel Harlan
The history of the three kings was not well-documented, with Munro relying heavily on a medieval document and her imagination. But it is known James I eventually went into hiding in 1437 and was tracked down, trapped in a sewer. Duff screeches with laughter.
"You can imagine that Isabella finds that absolutely wonderful. She is delighted. It's the only bit of closure she gets in her life. I love playing her but I don't like her. Of course, those are the kind of characters where you have to find some empathy with her. She acts because she's a mother and she can see they are being stripped of what she thinks is their right. But," she adds, "she does get her come-uppance and you see her being a bit of a sorry soul in James II."
Duff also plays another character in James II: Annabella, the king's sister, who becomes the rather fey James III's aunt in the third play. With the trilogy adding up to seven hours on stage, that's a lot of work for one actor. Duff mocks Danish actor Sofie Grabol, who played Detective Inspector Sophie Lund in The Killing TV series and Queen Margaret of Denmark in last year's staging of James III.
"She was only in the third one. I used to say to her, 'You're just swanning around.' But Sofie had a lot to contend with. She was constantly translating in her head, speaking to Scots people all the time, hearing what they say and trying to translate that back. She brought huge kudos to the production."
Duff recalls that at one point, while characters all around her were being killed or banished, she realised she wasn't going to get any time off. "I thought, 'oh gosh, what would I feel if I took one character out? who would I want to be?' I realised that the fact they are so different, and both really great characters, that I wouldn't want to miss out on Annabella or Isabella."
Besides, the trilogy - which includes sword fights, dance and music - created an incredibly tough cast.
Blythe Duff (R) as Isabella in The James Plays (with James McArdle).
"We had a long rehearsal period from April last year through to the end of July. We had a fight arranger and a choreographer and we were a very, very fit company. That's why I'm starting to panic that I'll not get back into my costume," she giggles. "The National Theatre of Scotland has been noted for its physical theatre and you are not going to be let down when you see The James Plays. We didn't know whether it would work as a trilogy and we had no idea whether the audience would be keen to see it all in one day." (Theatre-goers here will also have the choice of staggering it through separate days.)
"We were taking a big risk but we had an instinct we were heading in the right direction but it's not until you get an audience that you know how it's going to work," she adds. "We didn't know if people would come to the whole three but then we realised the audience really loved it and by the end of the day they had got used to the people they were sitting next to and they had a talking point."
Original cast members Peter Forbes, Daniel Cahill, David Mara, Andrew Fraser, Nick Elliot and Ali Craig will return for the Auckland season. Steven Miller (Black Watch) plays James I, Andrew Rothney (Outlander) is the disfigured James II and Matthew Pidgeon (Wolf Hall) plays James III. Sadly, Sofie Grabol will not be returning as Queen Margaret, with the casting of that role yet to be confirmed.
The James Plays were staged in London's National Theatre during the lead-up and voting day for the referendum for Scottish independence last October. James II ends with Queen Margaret telling the Scots that it's time to make a change and demanding, "What are you frightened of?"
"Well," says Duff, "there were all these Lion Rampant of Scotland banners hanging out of the windows in the quadrant where the dressing rooms are at the Nat and they didn't come down for a couple of weeks. It was an incredibly emotional time."
