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Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Scottish Ballet's Mary Queen of Scots at EIF – ‘she had to almost become like a man to survive'
How do you say something new and original about Scotland's most famous and storied queen? The Scottish Ballet team tell Kelly Apter it's all about emotion Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In real life, they never met - but so imaginative is Scottish Ballet's new production, that Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I share a brief moment of connection on stage. Not literally, but via the mounds of correspondence these two powerhouse women shared during their long-distance political rivalry. 'We thought it would be really satisfying to bring those two queens together, but as proxies,' explains choreographer, Sophie Laplane. 'So it's actually the letters they wrote to each other that meet, and we have two dancers representing Elizabeth and Mary in an abstract way.' This is not unusual for Laplane, Scottish Ballet's Resident Choreographer, who has made a number of dynamic abstract works for the company. Creating a full-length narrative piece, however, is a whole other proposition. So, joining Laplane as co-creator of Mary, Queen of Scots is director James Bonas, last seen at Scottish Ballet working on their excellent production of The Crucible. Mary Queen of Scots. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic. | EIF Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad With so many existing depictions of the 16th century cousins, both on stage and screen, Laplane and Bonas had their work cut out devising something new and original. Indeed, Scottish Ballet itself already has a production of Mary, Queen of Scots in its archive, created by company founder Peter Darrell in 1976. The lives of Mary and Elizabeth were also not short on drama, so knowing where and when to base the action was the first point of order. 'If you go beat by beat through Mary's life, then you're on for a kind of Netflix miniseries,' says Bonas. 'So we were keen to find a way to focus in on certain elements. And I'd say we were governed more by emotional, rather than socio-political choices.' Bonas and Laplane were also acutely aware that it's all too easy for us to look at royal figures and see them simply as kings and queens, not human beings. In the end, it was the sight of a more recent monarch that led to their decision to view the entire show through the lens of Elizabeth's memories, as her life draws to a close. 'It's all set on the day of Elizabeth's death, so she's very fragile,' explains Bonas. 'And in a way we were inspired by our own Queen Elizabeth. Sophie and I watched her on television when she met Liz Truss, who had just became Prime Minister, and the Queen had marks on her hand from the cannulas. She died two days later, but she'd had to get out of bed to show face, and Elizabeth I also had to carry on. There are rumours her make-up was an inch thick on her last day because she had to keep looking like the queen she was. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'So we begin with a very vulnerable woman who's feeling lost, disoriented and alone - and over the course of the show, we construct her until you see the full Elizabethan image we're used to, but she's nearly dead inside it all. And with Mary, it's the reverse. We start with her as a sophisticated and wealthy Renaissance queen in France, but by the end she's just dressed in underwear and about to have her head cut off.' Mary Queen of Scots. Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic. | EIF Portraying strength and fragility in a single character isn't easy, but it made for some interesting casting. To capture the essence that Elizabeth I was a woman operating in a male environment and had to, as Bolan says, 'almost become like a man to survive', they have cast a male dancer to play Elizabeth's younger self. While the older version will be portrayed by Swedish guest dancer, Charlotta Övferholm. A long-time friend of Scottish Ballet's artistic director, Christopher Hampson (who refers to her as 'a force of nature' and 'fearless'), Övferholm is passionate about older dancers being represented on stage. When I mention that so often in ballet, they're relegated to holding a glass of sherry at the back of the stage, she laughs. 'I know that I'm double the age of everyone in this company, but I don't feel it,' says Övferholm. 'All the work I create is very physical, so I think I would have a difficult time walking around with a glass of sherry. I would not take that job - I would rather serve the sherry in the intermission at the bar!' Both Övferholm and Roseanna Leney, who is portraying the titular Mary, found having a director and choreographer at the helm helpful. 'Working with James and Sophie has been amazing,' says Leney, 'because they've made sure that how we react to a certain situation feels genuine. Mary was a mother, a widow, and had horrendous struggles, but she was also a formidable woman in a man's world. So I'm trying to embody all of that, but then during moments when I'm alone on stage, I'm also allowing her vulnerability to show.' Övferholm has worked with some of the world's finest physical theatre companies, so knows a good thing when she sees it. 'James doesn't want anything fake or overdramatic,' she says. 'He wants it to feel real. And Sophie is creating incredible movement, so the two of them have a good craft together.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad From casting and storyline to costuming and music, this bold production may be a far cry from Darrell's 1976 version, but it fits right in with the Scottish Ballet ethos. 'I like to think that we're known for our brave new productions, and for telling stories in relevant ways,' says Hampson. 'And I know that's what Peter Darrow was about, too. There will be some people who remember his production of Mary, Queen of Scots fondly, and I hope this new show just adds to that canon. Scottish Ballet was only seven years old when he made it, and now we're 56. We're all different as we get older and an organisation is no different. So I like to think of this new production as an evolution of Darrell's work rather than something that's in competition with it.' Mary, Queen of Scots, Festival Theatre, Friday 15-Sunday 17 August.
Scotsman
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
The best EIF dance - Scotsman critic Kelly Apter previews the 2025 programme
Scotsman critic Kelly Apter on the dance highlights in this year's Edinburgh International Festival programme Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Dan Daw Show Despite focusing on pain, shame and humiliation, there is a surprising amount of joy to be found in The Dan Daw Show. This acclaimed two-hander charts Daw's experience of living with cerebral palsy. Years of being told by doctors that his body was 'wrong', and of being taunted in the street with cruel slurs or patronising comments, have led to this 90 minutes of glorious empowerment. Fellow dancer Christopher Owen may seem to be in charge, as he carries out various dominant acts on Daw's body(see picture, right). But we are never left in any doubt that Daw is in complete control, in this funny, touching, occasionally challenging and highly entertaining show. The Lyceum, 2-4 August The Dan Daw Show Dance People The theme for this year's Edinburgh International Festival may be 'The truth we seek', but within the dance programme it could just as easily be collaboration, as all five pieces are born out of a creative coming together of two or more entities. Dance People is collaboration writ large, with the entire audience invited to take part. Founded in Beirut and now based in Lyon, Maqamat dance company is the brainchild of Omar Rajeh. He co-choreographed Dance People with Mia Habis, forging relationships with composers, architects, writers, activists and citizens along the way, and all of these people have helped shape what Rajeh terms a 'non-conventional performance gathering'. Exploring ideas of space – how it is used, how it is distributed – this world premiere is activism through art, and an exciting opportunity for us to use our bodies to have our voices heard. Old College Quad, 7-10 August Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots The relationship between Mary Queen of Scots and England's Queen Elizabeth I is a long-running source of fascination, and so much excitement surrounds Scottish Ballet's upcoming world premiere, Mary, Queen of Scots. Choreographer Sophie Laplane has created some great works for the company in the past (Dextera, Maze, Oxymore), and her collaboration with director James Bonas (who also worked on Scottish Ballet's production of The Crucible) is a hugely promising prospect. Festival Theatre, 15-17 August Breaking Bach
Times
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
A bird hitches a ride on a hippo — and other news in pictures
Performers from the Copenhagen Collective throw acrobatic tricks at Wardie Bay, Edinburgh, ahead of their Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance, celebrating human connection through physical theatre SALLY ANDERSON/ALAMY An anhinga flips a fish into position before swallowing it at Lake Eola park in Orlando, Florida. The birds use their sharp beaks to spear prey after diving beneath the surface RONEN TIVONY/NURPHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK Racegoers sit on a bench at Goodwood racecourse during Sussex Stakes day as the summer racing season continues in Chichester ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA Crowds line the Black Sabbath Bridge in Birmingham as the funeral cortege of the heavy metal band's former frontman Ozzy Osbourne passes through his hometown JACK TAYLOR/REUTERS Tourists walk across handwoven carpets laid out in sun-drenched fields in Dosemealti, Turkey, where traders use summer heat to soften colours and prepare kilims for sale OZAN KOSE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Roseanna Leney, principal dancer with Scottish Ballet, poses as Mary, Queen of Scots, in Edinburgh ahead of the ballet's world premiere at this year's Edinburgh International Festival JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES A helicopter carries water to tackle a wildfire on the outskirts of Mombeltrán, Spain, where emergency crews are fighting blazes that have begun during a summer of extreme heat and dry conditions JUAN MEDINA/REUTERS Open Studios artists display their work on the beach at Milsey Bay in North Berwick, East Lothian, ahead of Fringe by the Sea, at which 14 local artists will showcase their pieces during SALLY ANDERSON/EDINBURGH ELITE MEDIA BEN BIRCHALL/PA A malachite kingfisher balances on a lily flower above the Chobe River in northern Botswana, using the elevated perch to scout for prey in open water below CHARL STOLS/SOLENT NEWS Crowds gather in Lima for the grand civic-military parade marking the 204th anniversary of Peru's independence KLEBHER VASQUEZ/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES Babu Tamang and his dog Shayam wait for passengers in Thamel, a bustling tourist district in Kathmandu, Nepal NIRANJAN SHRESTHA/AP A golden sunset casts a warm glow over Poole harbour in Dorset. After a showery couple of days, things are expected to brighten up on Saturday RACHEL BAKER/BNPS A rescued otter cub named Mingo is receiving specialist care after being found in the flamingo habitat at Colchester Zoo, far from where he should have been. He is being raised with two other cubs at the UK Wild Otter Trust's centre in Devon UK WILD OTTER TRUST/COVER IMAGES Dalibor Svrcina returns a shot to Daniil Medvedev during the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada CHRIS YOUNG/THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Young pilgrims rest inside Fiera Roma, a conference venue converted into temporary accommodation for those attending Catholic jubilee youth events in Rome MATTEO MINNELLA/REUTERS A herd of yaks graze in the early morning light in Maan village, Ladakh, northern India, where high-altitude pastures support traditional livestock herding DAR YASIN/AP Children cool off in a misting station at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City before a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves as temperatures near 100F (38C) CHARLIE RIEDEL/AP A brown bear plays with her three cubs in the Alaskan wilderness, taking a break from foraging to tumble with them in the grass
Daily Record
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Renfrewshire dance pupil and local dance school recognised in Scottish Parliament motion
Local MSP Paul O'Kane has paid tribute to "Renfrewshire's dancing queens". Renfrewshire dance pupil and her dance school have been celebrated in the Scottish Parliament. Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, commended the Dans-Scene musical theatre school and pupil Ava Morrison with a motion at Holyrood. The motion recognised Ava's impressive casting in the Scottish Ballet's production of The Nutcracker and the teaching she has received at the Johnstone-based dance school. Mr O'Kane recently met with school principal Gillian Whyte and pupil Ava to present them with a framed copy of the motion, which also marked the school's 25th anniversary. Mr O'Kane said: 'It is fantastic to see someone like Ava have her talent recognised and rewarded by being cast in such a prestigious ballet production – I'm sure the sky is the limit in terms of what she can go on and achieve in the world of dance. 'It wouldn't have been right to pay tribute to Ava without acknowledging the huge contribution Gillian Whyte has made to dancing in Renfrewshire with Dans-Scene Company. 'I'm delighted for Gillian to have her company reach the 25th anniversary milestone – she has helped nurture so many young talents and undoubtedly helped instil self-belief into many young people who want to become professional dancers.' He added: 'My motion was my way of letting Holyrood know about two of Renfrewshire's dancing queens. 'Dance schools and the volunteers who run them really add to the rich communities we live in across Renfrewshire and bring joy to young people and their families.' The motion lodged by Mr O'Kane states: 'That the parliament congratulates 10-year-old Ava Morrison on her achievement of being awarded the role of Clara in the Scottish Ballet's production of The Nutcracker; understands that in Gillian Whyte's Dans-Scene Company's 25th anniversary year, Ava and one other pupil have achieved roles within this production, which will be performed across Scotland and in parts of Newcastle; commends them for their consistent hard work and practice, which has given them this opportunity, and recognises the hard work that the dance studio has undertaken, which has been shown in its widespread successes.'
Glasgow Times
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Ballet Nights to make Scottish premiere in Glasgow this July
Ballet Nights will arrive at Glasgow's Theatre Royal on July 4, bringing a programme of classical ballet, contemporary dance, and live music performed by internationally acclaimed artists. The show has previously been performed on stages across the globe, including London, Brisbane, and Kuala Lumpur. Read more: Glasgow workshop aims to inspire potential community organisers Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, founder and artistic director of Ballet Nights and a former soloist with Scottish Ballet, will compère the evening. He said: "Glasgow holds a very special place in my heart and my creative soul. "In bringing my show concept to my old home, Ballet Nights offers me and many fellow returning Scottish Ballet stars the chance to reconnect with the audiences that made us. "I'm equally excited to showcase the global acts we've been growing the show with in London, alongside rarely seen Scottish voices—bringing our unique blend of artistry and innovation to Glasgow, and celebrating the magic of dance with audiences old and new." The line-up includes Scottish Ballet alumni such as Sophie Martin, Eve Mutso, and Constance Devernay-Laurence, as well as Royal Ballet principal Steven McRae and Birmingham Royal Ballet's former principal Tyrone Singleton. Glasgow-born dancer Andrew Cummings will also perform. Dancers Steven McRae and Constance Devernay-Laurence will perform at the event (Image: Mich Rose (L) and Deborah Jaffe (R)) The show will feature the world premiere of I Married Myself, performed by Constance Devernay-Laurence and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon OBE. Other highlights include Death of The Bachelors, choreographed and performed by BLACBRIK, and Elite Syncopations, featuring Constance Devernay-Laurence, Kevin Poeung, and Tyrone Singleton. Tickets for the Glasgow show are available to be purchased at Following the performance, Ballet Nights will host a day of masterclasses for young students on July 5 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Wallace Studios, led by Steven McRae. Read more: Portaloo transformed into mini-cinema puts spotlight on hidden health issue Megan Peasgood, course leader and ballet tutor at the Dance School of Scotland, said: "The Glasgow Ballet Nights Masterclasses are an exciting opportunity for the young aspiring dancers of Scotland to learn and develop their skills with prestigious industry professionals and Ballet Nights stars. "The day will provide a versatile mix of dance and coaching to inspire the students alongside their everyday dancing." The masterclasses are open to students in three age groups: junior (9–11), mids (12–14), and senior (15–16).
