ME, MYSELF AND MARY (QUEEN OF SCOTS) - REVIEW

In true Scottish spirit, Me, Myself and Mary (Queen of Scots) starts and ends with banter, where both, Mary Fraser – our modern guide through this story, and Mary, Queen of Scots compete for laughter and the title of a most tragic life. Who will win?

With a recent obsession with all things Scotland (Outlander, anyone?) and the always romanticised view of the legendary Mary, Queen of Scots, there is an abundance of historical material begging to be used over and over again in film and theatre. The modern angle of comparing the life of the Queen and this of a Shetlander, Mary Fraser, is a brilliant idea which is, unfortunately, lacking in execution. The story of Mary Fraser is told irregularly, and her relationship with her sister is missing the depth and complexity one could expect as it is compared to that of the rivalry between Mary, Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

Still, Marjolein Robertson is hysterical and driven by repetitive laughs from the audience, her high energy is unlike anything I’ve seen, relentlessly jumping from one character to another, out of breath, but never out of more jokes and impressions. A few minutes into the show, Robertson quickly becomes a caricature of her character, Mary Fraser, forcing laughter the moment she approaches a spot on the stage where we know to expect her ridiculously outrageous impression of Mary, the Queen. Brilliant and tireless, Robertson really uses all skills at her disposal to the fullest making the hour pass by quickly and lightly.

Raymond Friel writes an engaging script combining fun with historical facts and naughty content, yet one can’t help but think that genres get a little mixed up here, the show is unsure if it wants to be a comedy for adults or whether it should be a performance for children, Jordanna O’Neill’s direction of this almost confirms the latter with the plot and creative choices seeming to be lost between the worlds of adults and kids. John Kielty’s beautiful score guarantees to take you back in time to 16th-century Scotland but in the end, you may leave unsure of where you’ve just been to and what you were meant to take out of the show.

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{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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