The James Plays (NHB Modern Plays)

Rona Munro

THE JAMES PLAYS

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Introduction by Rona Munro

Acknowledgements

Original Production Details

James I: The Key Will Keep the Lock

James II: Day of the Innocents

James III: The True Mirror

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Introduction

Rona Munro

The process of writing these plays has been long (though not as long as you might suppose) and, at the time of writing this introduction, it’s ongoing. I am currently in rehearsal with the most extraordinary company of actors in the longest, most challenging, most terrifying and most exhilarating rehearsal process I have ever experienced.

I’ve long had the ambition to write on this scale. However, having the ambition is one thing. You also need the ability and the opportunity. It’s an unfortunate fact that very few contemporary playwrights get the writing commissions that allow them to develop the ability to write on a large scale, still fewer get the opportunities thereafter.

If you enjoy these plays at all you should understand that I owe a debt to a series of theatre companies and other organisations who support and develop new writing for the stage and who have allowed me to grow to the point where I felt able to go for the big dream.

These plays are set within a period of Scottish history which is virtually unknown. I feel a certain responsibility, therefore, to alert you to the fact that some small liberties have been taken with known events in order to serve our stories.

Certain characters represent amalgamations of many characters or stand for political forces within Scotland. Certain events have had their timelines altered to maximise the drama.

However, as far as narrative imperatives allow, I’ve followed history and used primary sources.

We cannot know the character and thoughts of these dead kings and queens and long-gone Scots. We can speculate a whole series of possibilities from the few hard facts we can rely on, the slim historical evidence of their actions. However, I feel robustly certain that whatever their thoughts and feelings might have been, human nature is exactly the same now as it was then. Only culture and circumstances have changed.

I’ve translated and used words from the fifteenth century within the plays, so you’ll read songs with lyrics taken from The Kingis Quair, the love poem written by James I himself. There are versions of work by the wonderful poet Robert Henryson and of anonymous authors whose words have still come down to us.

If any ghosts are offended by my appropriation and free interpretation of their work, I hope they’ll still appreciate the wider publicity.

In the delightful possibility that you are reading these plays with the view to giving them further production, here are some guidelines and warnings. All stage directions are suggestions only, you can take enormous liberties with those and emerge unscathed.

Lines are very definitely not, tweak at your peril, you’ll find you’re pulling on a thread that could unravel all your plans.

Various solutions were found to represent some large moments and staging problems which are quite baldly stated in the text.

The rhythm and language of the dialogue is contemporary Scots. Apart from Joan and Henry V in The Key Will Keep the Lock and Margaret in The True Mirror, all characters are speaking Scots.

Acknowledgements

A work on this scale requires a list of itemised gratitude that would run to another three volumes. However, there are some thank-yous which simply have to be immortalised in print.

For not only encouraging the original idea but taking the reckless step of commissioning all three plays at once, a huge thank-you to Vicky Featherstone.

For endless patience, quiet wisdom and encouragement and nurturing of all kinds, George Aza-Selinger.

For many things but chiefly for the solid help that actually kept me afloat at the moment of greatest need, Caroline Newall.

For providing the best writing environment I have ever had, huge thanks to Julian Forrester and all the staff at Cove Park, these plays could not have been completed in this timescale without that refuge.

To Linda McLean and John Ferris for providing me with another calm refuge at times of personal and professional need, as well as the best support friends could ever offer an overwrought writer.

To Dr Michael Brown and Dr Christine McGladdery for their tolerance of every liberty I’ve taken with ‘their’ kings and all their help and support.

To the most amazing company of actors I could ever have imagined, they shaped this text, you did the impossible, guys, and you did it with style – Cameron Barnes, Daniel Cahill, Ali Craig, Blythe Duff, Nick Elliott, Peter Forbes, Andrew Fraser Sofie Gråbøl, Sarah Higgins, Stephanie Hyam, Gordon Kennedy, Alasdair Macrae, David Mara, Beth Marshall, James McArdle, Rona Morison, Andrew Rothney, Mark Rowley, Jamie Sives and Fiona Wood.

A massive thank-you also goes to the actors who contributed to three development workshops, one for each play. Emun Elliott, Lex Shrapnel, Billy Riddoch, Phil Cairns, Lorraine McIntosh, Karen Fishwick, Jessica Clark, Rodney Matthew, Keith McPherson, Liam Brennan, Deirdre Davis, Ruth Milne, James Rottger, Joanne McGuinness, Joe McFadden, Sam Heughan, Stuart Martin and Emma Hamilton.

Everyone in the huge list of creatives, stage management, administrators, publicity, casting and support of all kinds who brought their talent and more to the monumental task of these plays’ first production.

And a thank-you too large to ever be adequately expressed anywhere, in any way, to Laurie Sansom. This was insane and it was impossible. Thank you for embracing the insanity. Thank you for making it work.

R.M.

The James Plays comprising James I: The Key Will Keep the Lock, James II: Day of the Innocents, and James III: The True Mirror were revived at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh on 6 February 2016, prior to a UK and international tour.

The James Plays is a co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Great Britain.

‘Robin’ composed by Will Gregory and Alasdair Macrae

Pre-show arrangements, additional arranging and hammered dulcimer by Alasdair Macrae

Additional piping arrangements by Cameron Barnes

Additional voice work by Ros Steen

The James Plays were premiered on 10 August 2014 as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh, in a co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland, the Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Great Britain. The production opened in the Olivier auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 25 September 2014. The original ensemble was as follows:

Cameron Barnes, Daniel Cahill, Ali Craig, Blythe Duff, Nicholas Elliott, Peter Forbes, Andrew Fraser, Sofie Gråbøl, Sarah Higgins, Stephanie Hyam, Gordon Kennedy, Alasdair Macrae, David Mara, Beth Marshall, James McArdle, Rona Morison, Andrew Rothney, Mark Rowley, Jamie Sives, Fiona Wood

JAMES I

THE KEY WILL KEEP THE LOCK

Characters

JAMES I, King of Scots

JOAN, an English noblewoman, seventeen to twenty years old

MEG, a lady of the Scottish court, nineteen to twenty-two years old

MURDAC STEWART, Regent of Scotland

WALTER STEWART, a soldier and mercenary, twenty-three to twenty-six years old

ALISDAIR STEWART, a soldier and mercenary, twenty-two to twenty-five years old

BIG JAMES STEWART, a soldier and mercenary, twenty-one to twenty-four years old

ISABELLA STEWART, Regent Consort

BALVENIE, a member of the Douglas family

HENRY V, King of England, thirty-six years old

And SERVANTS, a SCRIBE, a BISHOP, LORDS and LADIES of the Scottish court, MUSICIANS, GUARDS, etc.

ACT ONE

Song.

L’homme armé doibt on douter.

On a fait partout crier

Que chascun se viengne armer

D’un haubregon de fer

L’homme armé doibt on douter.

[Fear the armed men,

They’re shouting everywhere,

Get your armour on,

Fear the armed men.]

The Edge of a Battlefield Beside a Castle

WALTER, ALISDAIR, BALVENIE and BIG JAMES are Scottish prisoners of war. They are being herded into the courtyard where an execution is being prepared. Their English captors are taunting them.

GUARD ONE. Bloody Scots!

GUARD TWO. Fucking French!

GUARD ONE. See what you’re going to get!

GUARD TWO. See what’s coming to you!

GUARD ONE grabs BALVENIE, shaking him, showing him the execution platform.

GUARD ONE. Think you’ll hear your neck snap? Do you?

BALVENIE. Oh, Mary Mother of God…

GUARD TWO. I’ll cut your throat if you like, make it quicker for you.

GUARD ONE. Fuck that, let the French-loving bastard choke.

WALTER. Christ this one’s in a right mood, Alisdair.

ALISDAIR. They’re all a wee bit tetchy, Walter.

WALTER. What’s that about do you think, Big James?

BIG JAMES. They lost.

GUARD ONE. Oh, you think? You think we lost, do you? You murdering bastard! You’re losing more than me today, you wait.

WALTER. How many English dead?

ALISDAIR (pointing out over the battlefield). They’ve barely got half the bodies buried. Smell them? Ripe English dead. Three quarters of their fucking army.

WALTER. And the rest of them ran away.

BIG JAMES. We could beat you even when we’re tied up… wanna try?

GUARD ONE. You want a fight? Is that what you want?

The GUARDS lay into ALISDAIR, WALTER, BIG JAMES and BALVENIE, who defend themselves as well as they can with bound hands. ALISDAIR, WALTER and BIG JAMES are trying to hit back, BALVENIE is shielding himself, trying to get away. All of them are shouting at once.

BALVENIE. I’m no with them! No! No! Listen! Leave me! I’m no with these bastards!

GUARD ONE. Our King Henry is going to cut your tiny cocks off and make you eat them!

BIG JAMES. You lost! You lost! You’re fucking losers ’cause we gubbed you!

GUARD TWO. Hold still, stay still, you fucking murdering prick!

WALTER. Aye, tie us up and have the fight then, eh? Only way you’ll ever fucking win!

ALISDAIR. Allez! Allez! Allez les Écossaises!

HENRY V, JAMES and other GUARDS enter over this.

GUARD THREE. Order! Quiet! Order for His Majesty Henry the Fifth, King of England! Lord of Ireland! Regent and heir of France!

WALTER. In your fucking dreams, Henry boy!

GUARD ONE knocks WALTER down and starts beating him again. BIG JAMES and ALISDAIR struggle to get to him as GUARD TWO holds them back, all of them yelling again.

HENRY pitches over this.

HENRY. Oy! Oy!!! Stop that! Leave him! No killing! No fucking killing!

GUARD ONE stops.

No killing yet. Not yet.

Well. Here you all are, the gallant foe, eh? My defeated enemies.

WALTER. Aye, you’re the one defeated the day!

BIG JAMES. Three hundred to you. Three thousand to us.

They shout together.

WALTER/BIG JAMES. Loser! Loser! Loser!

HENRY. Alright. Kill someone now.

The GUARDS descend on BALVENIE who starts to scream.

BALVENIE. No! No! Your Majesty! I never said a word! Please!

BIG JAMES. Oh! No fair!

WALTER. Let him go!

HENRY. You really want him to live!?

ALISDAIR. Come on, King Henry, play fair…

HENRY. Then fucking shut up when I’m talking to you!!

Silence. The GUARDS back off BALVENIE.

So. I suppose you think you’re getting ransomed, do you? All this…

He indicates the scaffold.

That’s just for show, is it? ‘After all,’ you’ll be thinking, ‘wasn’t a great day for King Henry, was it? Lot of English prisoners over with the French and Scottish Army. He’ll be wanting to do a prisoner exchange, won’t he? Common sense.’ Yeah. Common sense.

Not really in the mood for common sense. Sorry, boys. Not really in a good mood at all. Funny, that.

Do you know who this is?

He indicates JAMES.

All the Scotsmen down there. You recognise him surely?

The Scots shout suggestions.

(To JAMES.) Tell them who you are, James.

JAMES looks at him but says nothing.

Well, go on.

JAMES still says nothing.

He’s usually so chatty, I don’t know what’s got into him.

This is your King, boys. This is King James of Scotland.

ALISDAIR (to WALTER and BIG JAMES). Is it?

WALTER. I don’t know.

BALVENIE. Yes, it’s him. It’s James.

HENRY. You were all out there, fighting against me fighting for the French. Your King, your very own King, is standing here, with me, with the English. What does that make you? That makes you traitors. You’re not prisoners of war, you’re traitors against your King. Your lives are forfeit.

BALVENIE. Oh, Mary Mother of God.

BALVENIE drops to his knees.

WALTER. Get up, old man. Come on.

BALVENIE. You do what you like. I’m praying for my life.

HENRY. And who’d pay your ransom anyway?

ALISDAIR calls to him.

ALISDAIR. Our father’s good for it!

WALTER. Murdac Stewart.

ALISDAIR. Regent of Scotland.

BIG JAMES. Ruler of Scotland.

HENRY. Murdac Stewart? He doesn’t pay ransoms. Since when did he start paying ransoms?

(Indicating JAMES.) We’ve had this man, his nephew, his King a prisoner for eighteen years. I grew up watching this boy moulder in the dungeons of my castles. Murdac Stewart never paid the King of Scotland’s ransom. Why’s that?

BIG JAMES. Maybe we’re not needing him back.

ALISDAIR. Will you stop cheeking the man! We’re in negotiations here. Thing is, King Henry, you’ve priced him too expensive.

HENRY. Look, James, these are your cousins, isn’t that nice? A family reunion. I’m filling up here. Though I have to tell you, I don’t see a lot of family loyalty down there. I do not, I think they’re traitors. What do you think?

WALTER. He’s your prisoner King, he’s no my King.

BALVENIE. Boys, do you want to just think before you speak just… listen to what you’re saying.

HENRY (to JAMES). Are you listening to what they’re saying? Did you hear them? Treason. They’re traitors. What do you do with traitors? Show them you’re a king. Go on.

BALVENIE. Oh Christ.

ALISDAIR. Your Majesty… I can see we need to put some figures on the table here. Will you let us name a price…

BALVENIE. Mary Mother of God.

WALTER (to BALVENIE). Will you stop that!

BIG JAMES. He’s no my fucking King!

HENRY turns to the GUARDS.

HENRY. Make him kneel!

The GUARDS wrestle BIG JAMES to the ground. All their weapons are out, ready to kill. Again everyone’s talking at once, cutting over each other.

ALISDAIR. Come on, King Henry, we were talking. Can’t we talk here?

WALTER. No, no, no, no, you bastard. Leave him, you leave him, you leave my brother alone.

ALISDAIR. It’s alright, big man, it’s alright. He won’t do it. Steady.

HENRY pitches over them all.

HENRY. On King James’s command, boys, wait for the King of Scotland to speak.

Quiet as HENRY talks just to JAMES. BIG JAMES is held, ready for execution.

(To JAMES.) Show them what the King of Scotland does to traitors.

Those are your cousins down there, right? Your own flesh and blood. They took your throne, they took your youth and left you rotting in my father’s prison for eighteen years while they stole your kingdom…

Show them you’re a king.

BIG JAMES. Fucking do it!

JAMES. No.

He faces HENRY.

(Quiet.) Not playing this game, Henry. Stop it. Stop it now.

HENRY is abruptly enraged.

HENRY. It’s not a fucking game, you stupid…!

I’m trying to teach you how to be a king, you ignorant little prick! We’re running out of time here! When are you going to learn!? Jesus!

HENRY doubles over, coughing. Looks at what he’s coughed up.

Jesus Christ…

JAMES sees it, startled.

JAMES. Is that blood?… Henry, are you sick?

HENRY. Yes. Yes, I’m sick of you, James. Sick and tired.

Right. Let’s try that again.

These are your subjects. These are the most unruly of your subjects.

Why don’t you show me how you plan to rule them. Demonstrate your kingship.

Just do it your way, James.

The Stewart boys are still held as if an execution might happen any moment.

JAMES hesitates. Then he faces the prisoners.

JAMES. You are prisoners of war. The laws of engagement and the rules of chivalry protect you. You will be ransomed or you will give service to His Majesty King Henry.

HENRY. That’s it?

JAMES. Yes.

HENRY. They don’t want you. They don’t want you on the throne of Scotland. You’re the king nobody wants. Tell them what they’re missing, James, tell them what a brilliant king you’d be. Dazzle them. Let them see your regal power, your strength, they need to see your strength, James.

Talk to them again.

JAMES. This isn’t the time or the place for that.

HENRY. No. No. This was the time to fucking show them.

(To the prisoners.) You don’t want your King back, boys? No, no I don’t blame you. What kind of king can’t order an execution?

What kind of king is brought up in a prison reading books and writing poetry? What good will that do Scotland when I come to burn you down? What would you do, James? Stand at the border and shout a few verses at me to send me home? It might just work too, this stuff’s diabolical. Want to hear some of this, boys?

HENRY has taken some paper out and is waving it. JAMES recognises his poem.

JAMES. What are you…?

Where did you get that!?

Give me that!?

JAMES launches himself at HENRY, trying to get the poem back. HENRY throws it down and suddenly they are wrestling. The prisoners are cheering and egging them on. Their lines overlap, ragged and spontaneous.

BIG JAMES. Go on, wee James!

WALTER. Pas de chance! I’m putting five hundred on King Henry.

ALISDAIR. No takers. C’est le roi anglais!… It’s King Henry! BIG

JAMES. Aw come on, wee man! Make a fight of it! He’s beating you!

JAMES has an initial advantage but HENRY quickly overpowers and pins him.

WALTER. You canny win a battle but you got him beat, Henry!

ALISDAIR (shushing him). Shush shush, dinny start him off again.

JAMES is still down, HENRY gets up, breathless coughing.

HENRY. Laws of engagement? Rules of chivalry? Bollocks to it. If you can promise me a ransom of five hundred I’ll let you live. Anything less