My obsession with Mary began in 1993 while visiting Holyrood
Castle in Edinburgh. I couldn’t believe that such a young, vibrant, passionate
woman could be incarcerated during the best years of her life. Over 18 years
never knowing if she would be rescued, if Elizabeth would set her free or if
she would die. She went from being an active, athletic woman, riding, going to
battle, making daring night time escapes, then suddenly nothing but embroidery
and occasional outings. I was also horrified by the death of Riccio in her own
tiny chamber in Holyrood. I stood in this room and felt the presence of those
murderers, saw the graphic images come to life from ghosts in the walls. I was
26 when I first found Mary, a year older then the age she was when first
captured in England. I am now 45, a year older then Mary was when she lost her
head. The 18 years she spent imprisoned in various English castles, is the same
amount of time I had to marry, have 4 children, a career in theatre, volunteering
in West Africa, traveling in Europe, South East Asia, Mexico, Australia, New
Zealand and the United States.
The Passion of Mary is not a history of Mary Queen of
Scots. And there is not enough room here to fill you in on her full history. See
the time line if you need help with ordering the events in her life. I had to
play with timelines in order to make the play work theatrically. The play
starts with Mary being caught in “The Babbington Plot”. There were several
rescue attempts during her 18 years imprisoned in England, some to get her out
of the country, others to put her on the English throne and restore Catholicism
to England. The Babbington Plot fell into the latter, but English spies
originally put the plot in motion and helped it along, so that Elizabeth would
finally have proof of Mary’s treason and thus a reason to kill her. In real
time, there were many months between Mary getting caught for treason, her trial
and eventual execution.
I did my research then threw it away to focus on her as a
woman, a mother, a lover and a leader. Historians agree and disagree about so
many things in Mary’s history, why she made the choices she did, whether or not
she was a murderer, if she was adulterous, if she coveted the English throne,
if she plotted to kill Elizabeth. My favorite book as I researched this play,
is Antonia Fraser’s, Mary Queen of Scots, which I highly recommend it if
you are moved to know more about her. Fraser’s biography is favorable to Mary,
a camp that I’ve belonged to from the start. I’ve fallen in love with Mary and
her life breaks my heart. It is unfathomable to me that a person could be
forced to stop moving forward in their life, to stop running. And yet I know it
can happen to any one of us if we are not careful, perhaps not physical
imprisonment, but emotional. Hers is a story that fascinates and frightens me.
She is an inspiration and a caution.
I’m convinced that if Elizabeth and Mary had been allowed to
meet, had been able to see each other eye to eye, hand to hand, and engage as
women, as cousins, rather then rival Queens, their history would have had a far
more positive outcome. If they could have married each other, just imagine the
possibilities. These were 2 Queens ruling at a time when men were in control,
each using her own power so differently from the other: Elizabeth never
marrying or having children to weigh her down in her colder more calculated
reign; Mary, falling in love with the wrong men at the wrong time, following
her heart and too trusting in her judgment of people. These are my opinions.
Who knows how it really was?
The Passion of Mary explores a woman on the brink of
death, needing redemption for her sins, needing to prove she is a good woman,
needing peace and knowledge that her life has had meaning. I leave it to you to
decide if she succeeds. I hope Mary moves you to find hope in despair, to make
the most of a life outside of prison walls, to value and not take your loved
ones for granted, to forgive and be forgiven, to love and be loved, to fail and
succeed and fail again and still find peace.
Enjoy.
Annette
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