From sword fighting, to pretend tournaments, to reconciling relationships. James IV is a masterclass for Scottish theatre and another hit in the chain of Rona Munro’s James series.
National Theatre of Scotland’s, James IV tells the tale of King James IV, Queen Margaret, Lady Anne and Lady Ellen and the turmoil within the royal quarters during the war. It explores race, love and sacrifice within an incredible script and beautiful story.
Rona Munro’s writing is fantastic once again. The script is full of every emotion. There are moments of excitement and happiness and then twists and tales that reaks sorrow and sadness over the audience. A major aspect that really drives the story is the humour mixed in through the dialogue. The comedy used by Munro was perfectly placed, creating a light and happy atmosphere before, after and even during the moments of darkness. The story itself is beautiful, exploring different relationships through different scopes and making every character feel important and relevant.
Laurie Sansom’s directing was very good. It seemed like it was blocked as a performance being done in the round but actually done on a normal stage. This style of acting with your back to the audience can sometimes not go down well with audiences or look slightly off but this actually worked extremely well for James IV. It gave the action a burst of realism and it felt so natural to watch and probably to act also. So this was a big pay off for Sansom. As well as that, with Neil Bettles as the movement director, the entire performance had a constant flow to it, with transitions between scenes being smooth and quick and then Bettles creating fantastic movement sequences – for example the time lapse of Queen Margaret’s pregnancy – that had such fluidity and poise which allowed the set to be changed as the piece continued but kept your eyes glued to the action and next thing you know everything has changed and you’re a year in the future. The movement pieces were majestic and the lifts were executed beautifully.
The set designed by Jon Bausor was striking. The rustic but yet bold and regal looking set brought the royal quarters to life, with additions of the flats being dropped from the ceiling to create the queen’s room and flags lifted on either side to create the colosseum style fight pit. This set added authenticity to the stage and was utilised to its full potential with the help of Lizzie Powell’s lighting. Powell created amazing atmospheres with her lighting designs and used everything from spotlights to blue floods at the perfect times. Both the set and lighting elevated the action perfectly and was very impressive.
Daniel Cahill is a perfect fit for King James IV. His naturalistic style of acting made everything he did look effortless. Cahill showcased the versatility in his acting through the show. His comedic timing was great and his understanding of the script really showed with his comedy and quick transitions from calm to anger to every other emotion. Cahill – alongside Malcolm Cumming, Ewan Black and Samuel Pashby – executed the brilliant fight scenes perfectly, choreographed by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown. These fight scenes were slick and were performed at a great pace, which is a common struggle with heavy fight scenes, especially ones including the use of weapons and this is down to the brilliance of Bown-Williams and Cooper-Brown.
Danielle Jam was incredible from start to finish. Her portrayal as Ellen had the audience involved in her story until the very end. Jam’s voice was very soothing and yet extremely powerful, not just from her projection but the emotion in her voice hit the audience every time she sang. Jame’s acting was phenomenal, embodying the character and telling her story exceptionally. Jam’s energy grew through the story which was perfect for the character, going from hesitant and quiet to full of charisma and self belief. Her chemistry with every actor on stage was very noticeable and this added an ease to the performance, making everything feel natural and real which is wonderful to watch. She is truly one to watch.
Laura Lovemore was fantastic in her role of Anne. Lovemore’s strong yet loving characteristics for Anne gave her such a powerful and caring attitude. Her voice was also very impressive, showcasing some nice vocals alongside Jam in their duets at the opening and closing parts of the show. One of Lovemore’s prominent features in her performance was the emotion she could drive into her acting. She had such a great understanding of the script and knew every beat and the subtext of the lines and this allowed her to use her terrific acting ability to get the most out of every word. The audience could feel her emotion and with a great chemistry on stage with her fellow cast members, they drew energy from each other and this brought the best out of everyone.
Blythe Duff as Dame Phemy gave everything from a comedic outlet to grasping the audience with her heartfelt emotional speech to King James IV. Duff’s acting is unquestionably incredible. Her sheer talent can elevate any role out there and she used her skills superbly for the role of Dame Phemy. She was hilarious throughout the show, with her verbal battles with Dunbar and Peter having the audience in stitches. She was very good at being funny with the dialogue but also getting laughs from just a slight movement or reaction. She had a great character arc towards the end,becoming the attending to the queen again and having a great scene where she opens herself up to the king. This was executed excellently by Duff.
Keith Fleming as Dunbar was someone who the audience couldn’t wait to come back on stage to see what he said. Fleming was fantastic with his comedic dialogue and used his physicality to emphasise the character and the comedy. His character journey was great. Fleming really got the grasp of the journey and portrayed his story of manipulator to caring friend wonderfully.
Sarita Gabony was loveable but at the same time hateable as Queen Margaret which was exactly what the character needed. Gabony was fantastic in the role as she expertly managed to get the audience to feel sorry for her in her moments of hurt and sorrow and then in the blink of an eye become extremely annoyed by her childish antics. This was a great performance by Gabony and she had the perfect balance between both emotions/attitudes and differentiated this depending on the character relationship.
Thierry Mabonga was great as the king’s right hand man Peter. Mabonga showcased his ability in his character’s journey, showing great versatility in his performance, from his range of emotion and his stern loyalty in the role. He had great chemistry with everyone on stage which benefited the character as he was essentially a crutch for some characters and a bridge between the turning points in the story.
Malcolm Cumming as Donald, Samuel Pashby as Douglas, Ewan Black as Turnbull, and Dr Gameli Tordzro as the music player (and musical supervisor) – all performed very well in their respective roles and as part of the overall ensemble. Each actor pushed the story forward and were key parts to the continuously smooth flow of the entire play. The playas a whole couldn’t have been executed as nicely as it was without every performer playing their part expertly. And it was indeed expertly done.
In conclusion, the fourth installment in the James plays – James IV – is a must see for Scottish theatre. Every aspect of the show was as good as the next and it is a brilliant recipe for success. If you haven’t seen it yet, will you follow your king?
Get tickets for ‘James IV: Queen Of The Fight’ at the Theatre Royal below:
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/james-iv-queen-of-the-fight/theatre-royal-glasgow/
Theatre Scotland 
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