Mary Stuart

A large cast performing a two-hundred-year-old play based on Tudor history may not sound like a promising premise for audio drama, but the L.A. Theatre Works production of MARY STUART is a real winner: dramatic, subtle, thought-provoking, and emotionally rich. Peter Oswald's new translation of the play into forceful, fresh English invites the listener to savor the political intrigue surrounding the murderous, political maneuvering of Protestant Elizabeth I as she deals with the threat posed by her Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. The entire cast is strong, though particularly memorable are Alex Kingston, Jill Gascoine, and Martin Jarvis. The dangers of failing to grasp the nuances of royal politics are rendered especially well in the memorable final scenes. G.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from September 24, 2007
In the global literary cannon, Friedrich Von Schiller wears the label of “Germany's Shakespeare.” His drama, penned in the year 1800, recounts the tumultuous days leading up to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots under the authority of her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Contemporary British playwright Peter Oswald has won tremendous acclaim for his translation of Von Schiller's play, which L.A. Theatre Works recently staged. Given such wide shifts across centuries, languages and oceans, the audio performance offers a remarkably relevant story line for 21st-century America. The angst-ridden Queen Elizabeth, played by veteran actress Jill Gascoine, ponders the very real threats of sabotage and insurgency as she moves toward a decision that smacks of pre-emptive capital punishment for political purposes. As she awaits her fate, the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots, played by ER
's Alex Kingston, must contend both with overzealous followers on their way to certain martyrdom and complicated romantic double-crossing worthy of Desperate Housewives
. Both astute history buffs interested in intellectual speculation and more casual listeners simply in the mood for catty monarch-vs.-monarch banter will find themselves transfixed.