By Jason Hagey and Alisha Hagey
Jean Stock Goldstone and John Reich’s adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s verse play, Mary Stuart, is a tour de force at Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Theatre Company. A battle rages on between monarchs, countries, religions, and now cousins. The story of two women struggling for personal power and the right to rule and act for oneself is tainted against a backdrop of men who want to control, contain, and assert their rights of leadership and possession. This historical struggle is mirrored in the present day. Oftentimes the play feels like captured moments in media colored by whichever outlet you turn on. This same mirroring happens physically within the doors of the court itself – at once reflecting the action on stage but also distorting it into something else altogether.
Mary is a refugee from her own country. Seeking asylum in England following an uprising after the murder of her husband (for which she is blamed), she is imprisoned by Elizabeth, who perceives her as a threat to her throne. This does not come without precedent, seeing that many English Catholics consider Mary as the legitimate queen. Thus, two strong women become the central figures in plots and treachery that ultimately leave one of them alone and the other dead. Mary Stuart is a highly themed play that investigates the conflict between right and wrong, justice and mercy, religion, and what it means to be a woman in a world of men.
Director Shelley Butler’s seamless direction is timeless, shaped by biographical events while simultaneously reflecting the story’s relevance to a modern audience. In her Director’s Note she says, “When we turn on the television or click onto social media today, we’re subjected to constant attempts to sway opinion and hold power by controlling the narrative…” Butler uses the text as a crucible for exploring the ideas of Mary Stuart. Butler’s direction emphasizes this social distortion and the controlling of the narrative through carefully devised visual representations, audio moments, and set movement.
Anne Bates (Elizabeth of England) and Erika La Vonn (Mary of Scotland) play their powerful roles with human and relatable precision. While the characters themselves are heavily flawed, Bates and La Vonn have force, gravitas, and grace. Bates commands the space. Whether the stage is filled with others or empty, she is the epitome of power. La Vonn’s first moments exemplify a woman of confidence, filled with personal pride, and ultimate dignity.Her last moments on stage have an even greater presence than when she starts – courtly and queenly.
Robert Mammana (Leicester) and Robert Scott Smith (Burleigh) each give commanding performances. They, like the Queens, represent two sides of a coin – foils to one another. What makes them unique is their effortlessness in being real. Looking at Leicester’s actions alone, he should be despicable. Through Mammana’s excellent portrayal, Leicester makes sense in his world. He’s a man who is trying to get ahead, even using duplicity to do so, but Mammana makes Leicester somehow sympathetic. Smith is no less authentic. Burleigh is the kind of person who works in the realm of black and white reasoning, but entirely out for himself. Smith gives him layers of accessibility and empathy.
The ensemble of Mary Stuart is solid. The supporting cast plays their roles with beauty and loveliness that brings the whole of the production to life.
Sara Ryung Clement’s (Scenic Design) visually evocative set grabs you from the moment you walk into the theatre. She creates a minimalist environment in a forced perspective that moves and shapes simply for each scene, giving a metaphorical meaning to each sequence. In tandem with David Neville’s (Lighting Design) atmospheric lighting, Clement and Neville create a world of symbolism and significance that gives the production another level of discussion long after the curtain call.
Brenda Van Der Wiel (Costume Design) gives both a sense of time period and an elongation of the self. Her designs distort perceptions of history, mirroring the characters themselves in conviction and strength (e.g. watch the collars they wear).
John Ballinger (Composer/Sound Design) creates a lush soundscape that is both an underscoring to the action and an out-of-body experience, gnarling our belief in what we see. This happens early on when a diadem of Mary’s is picked up and we hear a somewhat ethereal sound of bells. It comes from nowhere and yet feels accurate to the diegetic world.
Mary Stuart pits the forces of two strong women: cousins, both queens with legitimate claims to the English throne. Both are flawed and each manipulated by the men surrounding them. Neither queen is above suspicion and truly above treachery. Yet, in this retelling, Goldstone and Reich find a way to make both women human and relatable. The crown is a heavy burden. In the end, Elizabeth is left alone, childless, seemingly friendless, the surviving cousin, and the reigning monarch. In Salt Lake City, within a darkened theatre, come be immersed in the depths of character and feel the weight of the crown for yourself.
According to the website: “Mary Stuart is suitable for general adult audiences and high school and junior high school students. Pre-teens may be bored by it.”
Pioneer Theatre Company presents Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller, adapted by Jean Stock Goldstone and John Reich.
Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
January 10 – January 25, 2020, Monday – Thursday 7:00, Friday -Saturday 7:30 PM, Saturday Matinees 2:00 PM
Tickets: $31 – $47
Contact: 801-581-6961
Pioneer Theatre Company’s Facebook Page
Pioneer Theatre Company Website
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