Live Performance Review: The James Plays: Performed by National Theatre of Scotland & National Theatre of Great Britain (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2014), Sunday 17.08.2014 12:00 - James I: The Key Will Keep The Lock, 16:00 - James II: Day of the Innocents & 20:15 - James III: The True Mirror, The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh (WORLD PREMIERE)

Now straight off the bat, I did think it foolish to go to see all of these in one day, though I only thought this after I got the tickets. I wondered whether I would be able to endure, and I also thought it would have to be very good performance to keep me going for the advertised 7 & 1/2 Hours + Breaks. 

As it turns out I needn't have worried, the plays were very well staged and acted, and I was particularly pleased to have had to opportunity to see Sofie Grabol give a good performance. I would consider the original Danish version of 'The Killing' (Forbrydelsen) (2007 - 2012) to be my favorite T.V. series, so to get the opportunity to see her perform, was a draw I was not going to miss. 

Now sadly to my more negative comments. It struck me that the show was at times actively being played for laughs; this is something quite different to there being naturally occurring funny moments. I don't know if this struck as odd simply as I was not expecting it. I am not suggesting that the presentation of history needs to be dour faced, though these are not happy periods of Scotland's history that are being depicted. 

It irritated me early on that colloquialisms being used were, to my knowledge, too modern for times being set within. Though by the end of the third and final play it was clear that the producers of the work were not bothered by such considerations as historical accuracy. 

By the end of the third play, King James III was dressed in a see through black top with red velour trousers on and his tattoos still clearly showing through the top; there having been no attempt to cover these up during the performance.

By the third play several cast members were dressed in Kilts of the modern form. Kilts in their modern form did not exist until the Victorian era, when an English factory owner in Inverness had them designed as the work uniforms for his Scottish workforce. Hence why I refer to them as a symbol of Scottish servitude, and for this & other reasons I prefer a skirt (I don't even feel Scottish!). 

It may well be clear, that the conceiving of this triptych of plays was entirely separate to the development of the referendum on Scottish Independence, though sadly the authors politics are not hard to guess at. There was a section towards the end of the final play that felt a tad hectoring and soap-boxy. Though I did appreciate that they did not try to paint an overly rose tinted view of the past, and they gave voice to the idea that Scotland does not really have much except attitude, and that's not much to brag about.

It could encourage people to engage with their own politics, though presently in Scotland this is not much of an issue. I also hasten to think that most, if not all people in attendance, by the very act of purchasing the tickets and being there are likely to already be engaged. Possibly a case of preaching to the choir.  

I appreciated that the three plays act as a reminder, that historical development towards any moderately enlightened culture has had (many) periods of bitter jealous rivalry within greater periods of barbaric and brutal feudalism. It reminds that all power can corrupt and cause apparent instantaneous blindness to what able to see before. It also serves as a reminder that the history, that the Scots in particular are guilty of romanticising, is the last thing we can benefit from looking back at reverentially. The times depicted today, I am glad are times that I should never have to endure.           

Rating: 08/10.