Play: James III: the True Mirror

I was double-booked last night - had a ticket to a double-bill in the Calm Down, Dear feminist festival, at Camden People's Theatre. One ticket to each of Women's Hour and A Girl and a Gun. Then I suddenly found available tickets to James III: the True Mirror, the last of the James Plays trilogy at the National, concerning Kings James I, II, and III, of Scotland. I went to the second of these - James II, naturally! - on Tuesday, and had been despairing of getting tickets to James III. There were also tickets for tonight, but I'm flying to Ireland for the weekend, so that was out of the question.

So I said sod it, I'd rather go to that, and offered the other tickets to the office. Did I have a single taker? No. They went to waste. Tsk. Well, you can lead a horse to water, as they say.. Anyway, I took myself off to the National. The weather was the reverse of the day before, when there was a lovely lunchtime, followed by a miserable evening. Yesterday however, the afternoon was horrible, but the evening - well, not so bad. I'd been worried about crossing the bridge in the rain, but it was ok, in the end.

Having left as soon as humanly possible, I timed it a bit better yesterday, and by the time the bell rang for us to take our seats, I actually had my ticket in hand and was on the correct floor, heading for the theatre door. This time, I was in the same row as on Tuesday (the very back), but round the other side. Directly facing the enormous sword stuck in the stage for these plays, as it happens. Tip: if you are going to this particular play in the trilogy, it pays to arrive early - unlike the second play, this one opens on a lighthearted note, with music and dancing! Starts before the play proper. (Pop music, BTW, but played by a three-piece band wearing kilts, to the side of the stage. The costumes for this play are also modern, with a touch of the old-fashioned about them - more modern than in the second play.)

So, this play concerns James III, and a better argument for republicanism you shall not find! Certainly, on the evidence of this play, he was the most spoiled, petulant, irritating, stubborn, overgrown child you could ever have the misfortune to meet, let alone have run a country. Which, of course, he couldn't be bothered doing. Indeed, he was so infuriating that I couldn't blame the German couple beside me, who left at the interval, muttering "James, Schmames". Which was handy, because in what was, yet again, a packed house, I now had a seat to leave my bag and coat on. As did the lady sitting on the other side of the empty seats - why she didn't move into them for a better view, though, is a mystery to me.

His - and the play's - saving grace was his queen, Margaret of Denmark, who turned out to be a level-headed, intelligent woman, who did much to hold his kingdom together, as it lurched towards the modern age. One character makes it through from the second play - Princess Annabella, sister of James II. Similarly, one character - Isabella - who appears in the second play seems to have been carried through from the first. There were some stage changes between the second and third - around the stage, the walls of bare wooden slats of the second play were now covered in what looked like fleur-de-lis, with white roses to the side - a sign of increasing sophistication, peace, modernity? Interestingly, for the first time, I noticed that the floor faintly looks like a Saltire - that wasn't apparent in the second play, where everything was so much more stark. The sword also appeared to have colours - jewels in the helm - that I hadn't seen in the second play. It'll be interesting to see what differences I can find in the presentation of the first play, whether it'll be even more stark than the second, as we go back in history. I'm seeing James I on the 27th. There is one day - the 25th - when you can see all three together, but unfortunately I'm in Ireland that weekend again.

Well, not long now till I fly back to Ireland for the weekend. On Monday, I'm off to the Opera House again - this time for a ballet: Manon. As Time Out says - "Leave the children at home for this salacious ballet... The late choreographer’s ‘Manon’ has bite. A story of questionable morals – or lack thereof – has all the traits for a rich, dense production full of star-struck lovers, manipulative siblings, hedonistic antics, debauched seduction, shame and murder." And the dancing is supposed to be amazing. Yes, I'm happy to have a look at this. Cheapest tickets available from the opera house website - although Time Out has a terrific offer (must be bought before Wednesday) of a 54% discount on tickets. Still, I'm happy enough to go with a seat in Row M of the amphiteatre, which is the same row I had there last time. Slightly more to the side though.