The world premiere of a show written by Cal Ferguson, Mhairi McCall and Lewis Lauder will be staged at this year’s Fringe from 1 to 25 August.
This is a tale of a ban on rock’n’roll in 1561 and the arrival of Mary Stuart one of the biggest musical artists in the land – the Queen of Rock. Can she get the country rocking again or will heads roll…?
The show features several genres of music but is essentially a rock opera, loud upbeat and in your face. We may all think we know the story of Mary but this will be a retelling of a Scottish tale.
Co-writer Cal Ferguson said: “We are so excited to be bringing this new Scottish musical to the Fringe this year! After the success of Salamander, we are ready for our biggest and most ambitious production to date and can’t wait to work with Assembly again. The idea came during a holiday in France (of all places) when I asked Mhairi and Lewis – why has there never been a musical about Mary, Queen of Scots?
“As native Scots ourselves, of course we knew the gist of the story but parts of it were hazy and once we started researching, we were amazed at how turbulent and dramatic her life was. One book described Mary as a being like a ‘rock star’ when she returned back to Scotland in 1561 to take the throne and from there – the idea of Mary as the Queen of Rock was born.
“There is such a pattern in the story of a talented, powerful woman consistently being undermined by abusive men. We wanted to draw comparisons between the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and the misogyny our biggest female artists face today. We love to build them up but relish in their demise even more.”
Director Lana Pheutan said: “After 8 years of Pretty Knickers Productions our latest show Mary, Queen of Rock! seems like everything we have been building up to. For me as a director, it is an absolute dream, the script is rich, playful and truly Scottish, the music is sensational and the world that we are creating is somewhere I’m going to be delighted to spend a lot of time in as we kickstart rehearsals.
“The entire team is incredible and we’re all grafting harder than ever before to ensure this is our most daring and successful show yet. I’m so excited to be bringing one of Scotland’s most well- known women’s story to the Edinburgh Fringe in such a bold way. The audiences are in for a real treat. It’s going to be loud, it’s going to be raucous and it’s going to be rock and roll.”
- Mary, Queen of Rock!
- Pretty Knickers Productions
- Written by Cal Ferguson, Mhairi McCall and Lewis Lauder
- Venue: Assembly Rooms, Ballroom
- Dates: 1st- 25th August (No show on Wednesdays, 7th,14th,21st) @ 21.20
- Review From: 2nd August
- Tickets: £17.50
- Content Warnings: Drug Use, Gunshot
- Age Guidance: 12+
- Running Time: 80 Mins
