Scary Little Girls

Scary Little Girls' second fringe production was an adaption of Schiller's Maria Stuart, performed at the Union Theatre, Southwark in 2005.  Below is a selection of promotional material and reviews for the show, including a link to the specially created mini-site.

Two religions divide a people and a land. Two rulers exploit religion to control their people.

Terrorists, conspiracies, arbitrary arrest and detention, interrogation and intercepted correspondence - it's unsettling how human behaviour at the highest level of power doesn't change.

Visit the site for the production.

Reviews

Queen Elizabeth I's tragic clash with Mary Stuart is perfect dramatic subject matter in the hands of Schiller.

He died 200 years ago this year and Mary was beheaded in 1587, yet his pro-Stuart historical drama has fresh, direct appeal. The one criticism of this powerful production is that some of its attempts to drive home the contemporary relevance are gratuitous when the play can speak for itself.

Directed by Ryan McBryde, the contrast between the rival queens is thrown into sharpest relief against designer Alexie Kharibian's utilitarian set, while Paul Walker's strident music and sounds of the bestial crowd stir our emotional response.

Lucinda Raikes portrays a Mary who is delicate, dignified, noble, rises to passionate anger and is utterly charming. She monopolises our sympathy and moves us almost to tears.

Rebecca Mordan's bold Elizabeth is a shrill, coarse, comical self-mockery that sends up queenship and makes us question that any human being should be handed such potentially evil power.

For all her masculine ruthlessness, she is just as susceptible as Mary to duplicitous male courtiers.

The key links between the queens are Nick Ash as the silver-tongued, spineless Lord Leicester and Mortimer, played by David Newman, who conveys the character's weird creepiness, the flipside of his devotion to a cause.

Strong, no-nonsense acting is also delivered by the rest of the cast, including John Gorick as an unfeeling Lord Burleigh and Lesley Stone as Hanna Kennedy, Mary's heartbroken lady-in-waiting.

Barbara Lewis, The Stage

Scary Little Girls insist that the German Playwright's themes - asylum, religion and the State and civil rights still prevail in today's post 9/11 climate - they're not wrong... Papist versus Protestant, vulnerable 'natural' woman versus skilled but dehumanised political actress, it's a great story. Ryan Mcbryde's production opts for a daring time travelling portentousness . it very nearly achieves sublimity. Rebecca Mordan's Virgin Queen is a strange cross between Miranda Richardson's lisping Elizabeth in "Blackadder" and a Dalek - like much else in the production it seems a bit silly at first but comes to accrue a curious power.

Timeout

The events leading up to the trial and execution of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587 has never ceased to inspire and Scary Little Girls' production of Schiller's 'Maria Stuart', inventively directed by Ryan McBryde, is the first to open in 2005, the year that commemorates the second centenary of Schiller's death.

McBryde creates a conspiratorial atmosphere with an excellent cast standing motionless like Tussaudian figures silently observing the action. This, coupled with an eclectic soundscape and stylised physicality, heightens the duality of movement, the resetting of a chair becoming a tool to overhear a conversation.

Schiller requested that actresses no older than 30 should play the two central characters and here Lucinda Raikes makes a beautifully elegant Maria, fragile and birdlike with a quiet sensitivity and Rebecca Mordan's strident Elizabeth commands the stage like a regal battleship. The only character to be dressed in Elizabethan costume, Mordan's creation is truly redoubtable, with clipped stylistic speech and an emotionally icy delivery. When the two meet head to head, the air becomes hot with accusations and although historically fictitious, it is most enlightening as to their bitter struggle for power in a man's world. John Gorrick as Lord Burleigh and David Newman as Mortimer also give memorable performances.

A fascinating production with many original ideas, but there is the feeling that the old adage 'less is more' would be appropriate. None the less, SLG is a rising company to watch with interest, as with time and experience they will undoubtedly go a long way.

Peggy Leader, What's On

Scary Little Girls' Maria Stuart has a clarity and purpose that drives into the imagination . An exciting, danger-edged production...Lucinda Raikes' Mary is alive, individual, feminine, manipulative yet heart-warming.

Reviews Gate