James V: Katherine

by Rona Munro

'If a young woman made you smile, you wouldnae want to see her set on fire, would you?'

Katherine Hamilton is a nineteen-year-old woman facing arrest and trial in the King's court, with only her quick wit as defence against execution.

James Katherine is a dramatic interpretation of key events during a turbulent time in Scotland's history, events that changed the nation forever. It is also a play filled with hidden histories, deft comedy and a secret love story between two young women.

Rona Munro's renowned James Plays are a breathtaking series of plays set during the reigns of Scotland's generations of Stewart kings. Each play stands alone as a thrilling depiction of a moment in Scottish history, full of playful wit and boisterous theatricality; taken together, the cycle is a uniquely compelling narrative of a nation tussling with its past and future.

James Katherine was first staged at Capital Theatres' The Studio, in April 2024, directed by Orla O'Loughlin, before embarking on a Scottish tour. It was a co-production between Raw Material and Capital Theatres, who previously produced James Queen of the Fight.

Rona Munro is a writer who has written extensively for stage, radio, film and television. Earlier works in the James Plays cycle (I–III) have been performed at the National Theatre in London, across the UK and internationally, and have won Evening Standard and Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards.

80 pages, Paperback

Published May 20, 2025

About the author

Rona Munro is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's Ladybird, Ladybird (1994), Oranges and Sunshine (2010) for Jim Loach and Aimée & Jaguar (1999), co-authored by German director Max Färberböck. Her television work includes the last Doctor Who television serial of the original run to air, Survival (1989), episodes of the drama series Casualty (BBC) and the BBC film Rehab., directed by Antonia Bird.

In 1985, Munro was appointed writer-in-residence with the English theatre company Paines Plough, and her next four plays, Dust and Dreams (1986), The Way to Go Home (1987), Winners (19870, and Off the Road (1988) were produced in England. Her Saturday at the Commodore, commissioned by 7:84 for its Long Story Short series, was staged at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, on Skye, in February 1989.

Her play Iron has received many productions worldwide. Other plays include Strawberries in January (translation) for the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Mary Barton for Manchester Royal Exchange, Long Time Dead for Plymouth Drum Theatre and Paines Plough, and The Indian Boy for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Munro contributed eight dramas to Radio 4's Stanley Baxter Playhouse: First Impressions, Wheeling Them In, The King's Kilt, Pasta Alfreddo at Cafe Alessandro, The Man in the Garden, The Porter's Story, The German Pilot and The Spider.

In 2006 the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith presented Munro's adaptation of Richard Adams' classic book, Watership Down.

Her play, The Last Witch, was performed at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival, directed by Dominic Hill, and in 2011 by Dumbarton People's Theatre. Her history cycle The James Plays, James I, James II and James III, were first performed by the National Theatre of Scotland in summer 2014 in a co-production with Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland.