Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off

Liz Lochhead's inventive, irreverent take on Scottish history.

Essential for Scottish history and theatre enthusiasts.

About the Ebook

A modern classic about the bitter rivalry between Mary, Queen of Scots, and her cousin and fellow ruler, Elizabeth I of England - retold by Scotland's most popular playwright.

'Once upon a time, there were twa queens on the wan green island, and the wan green island was split inty twa kingdoms. But no equal kingdoms...'

Mary and Elizabeth are two women with much in common, but more that sets them apart.

Following the death of her husband, the Dauphin of France, the beautiful, and staunchly Catholic Mary Stuart has returned from France to rule Scotland, a country she neither knows nor understands. Ill-prepared to rule in her own right, Mary has failed to learn what her protestant cousin, Elizabeth Tudor, knows only too well - that a queen must rule with her head, not her heart.

All too soon the stage is set for a deadly endgame in which there can only be one winner and one queen on the one green island.

Liz Lochhead's play Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off is presented in a distinctive cabaret style, with much of the dialogue in the 'Braid Scots' vernacular. It was first performed by the Communicado Theatre Company at the Lyceum Studio Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 1987.

This revised version was published alongside the revival by the National Theatre of Scotland, which toured in 2009. Also included is a new introduction by the author.

Reviews

'A triumph… the characterisations never slide over into caricature but are full-bodied, subtle, humorous and virile' Time Out

'Twenty-two years on, it's a text that still takes the breath away with the fearless theatricality of its cabaret style, and the sheer force of the glittering poetic links it forges between the fraught and unresolved politics of Scotland in the 16th century, and tensions over gender and religion that still haunt our society today'
Scotsman

Why You'll Love This Ebook

• Brilliant theatrical reimagining of Scottish history.
• Language and wit that defines contemporary Scottish drama.
• Published by Nick Hern Books, leading contemporary theatre publisher.
• Scottish theatre at its most vital.

About the Author

Liz Lochhead is a poet, playwright, performer and broadcaster.

Her original stage plays include Thon Man Molière, Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, Blood and Ice, Good Things and Perfect Days. Her many stage adaptations include Dracula, Molière’s Tartuffe, Miseryguts (based on Le Misanthrope) and Educating Agnes (based on L’École des Femmes); as well as versions of Medea by Euripides (for which she won the Scottish Book of the Year Award in 2001), and Thebans (adapted mainly from Sophocles' Oedipus and Antigone).

Her collections of poetry include Dreaming Frankenstein, The Colour of Black & White, A Choosing (Selected Poems), Fugitive Colours and True Confessions, a collection of monologues and theatre lyrics. She served a five-year term as Scotland's Makar, or National Poet, from 2011 till 2016, and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 2015. She won the Sunday Herald Scottish Culture Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, and the 2023 Saltire Society Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Scottish literature .

Publication Details

Publisher: Nick Hern Books

Publication Date: 15 August 2013

Print Length: 88 pages (Ebook edition)

ISBN (Ebook): 9781780011356

Format: Ebook

Language: English

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