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The James Plays
James I: The Key Will Keep the Lock
James II: Day of the Innocents
James III: The True Mirror
Rona Munro’s vividly imagined trilogy brings to life three generations of Stewart kings who ruled Scotland in the tumultuous fifteenth century.
James I: The Key Will Keep the Lock explores the complex character of the colourful Stewart King – poet, lover and law-maker.
Captured at the age of 13 and crowned King of Scots in an English prison, James I of Scotland is delivered home 18 years later with a ransom on his head and a new English bride. The nation he returns to is poor: the royal coffers empty and his nobles ready to tear him apart at the first sign of weakness. Determined to bring the rule of law to a land riven by warring factions, James faces terrible choices if he is to save himself, his Queen and the crown.
James II: Day of the Innocents depicts a violent royal playground from the perspective of the child King and his contemporaries, in a terrifying arena of sharp teeth and long knives.
James II becomes the prize in a vicious game between Scotland’s most powerful families. Crowned when only six, abandoned by his mother and separated from his sisters, the child King is little more than a puppet. There is only one friend he can trust: William, the future Earl of Douglas. As James approaches adulthood in an ever more threatening world, he must fight to keep his tenuous grip on the crown while the nightmares of his childhood rise up once more.
James III: The True Mirror, like the King himself, is colourful and unpredictable, turning its attention to the women at the heart of the royal court.
Charismatic, cultured, and obsessed with grandiose schemes that his nation can ill afford, James III is by turns loved and loathed. Scotland thunders dangerously close to civil war, but its future may be decided by James’ resourceful and resilient wife, Queen Margaret of Denmark. Her love and clear vision can save a fragile monarchy and rescue a struggling people.
Each play stands alone as a unique vision of a country tussling with its past and future; viewed together the trilogy creates an intricate and compelling narrative on Scottish culture and nationhood, full of playful wit and boisterous theatricality.
The James Plays premiered at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2014 as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, before transferring to the National Theatre, London. The trilogy was named Best New Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014.
James II: Day of the Innocents
James III: The True Mirror
Rona Munro’s vividly imagined trilogy brings to life three generations of Stewart kings who ruled Scotland in the tumultuous fifteenth century.
James I: The Key Will Keep the Lock explores the complex character of the colourful Stewart King – poet, lover and law-maker.
Captured at the age of 13 and crowned King of Scots in an English prison, James I of Scotland is delivered home 18 years later with a ransom on his head and a new English bride. The nation he returns to is poor: the royal coffers empty and his nobles ready to tear him apart at the first sign of weakness. Determined to bring the rule of law to a land riven by warring factions, James faces terrible choices if he is to save himself, his Queen and the crown.
James II: Day of the Innocents depicts a violent royal playground from the perspective of the child King and his contemporaries, in a terrifying arena of sharp teeth and long knives.
James II becomes the prize in a vicious game between Scotland’s most powerful families. Crowned when only six, abandoned by his mother and separated from his sisters, the child King is little more than a puppet. There is only one friend he can trust: William, the future Earl of Douglas. As James approaches adulthood in an ever more threatening world, he must fight to keep his tenuous grip on the crown while the nightmares of his childhood rise up once more.
James III: The True Mirror, like the King himself, is colourful and unpredictable, turning its attention to the women at the heart of the royal court.
Charismatic, cultured, and obsessed with grandiose schemes that his nation can ill afford, James III is by turns loved and loathed. Scotland thunders dangerously close to civil war, but its future may be decided by James’ resourceful and resilient wife, Queen Margaret of Denmark. Her love and clear vision can save a fragile monarchy and rescue a struggling people.
Each play stands alone as a unique vision of a country tussling with its past and future; viewed together the trilogy creates an intricate and compelling narrative on Scottish culture and nationhood, full of playful wit and boisterous theatricality.
The James Plays premiered at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2014 as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, before transferring to the National Theatre, London. The trilogy was named Best New Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014.
292 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 2014
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About the author
Rona Munro
73 books14 followersRona 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.
Her play Iron which 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.
Her play Iron which 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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 4, 2019
For the most part, these were rousing and informative, albeit perhaps not quite as historically accurate as one might wish (but since little is really known about the three kings in question, perhaps some extrapolation was inevitable). And it is FAR more humorous than I expected. The one dull spot is the second play is really not up to the standards of the other two, and since it was apparently largely done with puppets standing in for the children characters, probably played even poorer than it reads. And since there is little chance of it ever being done in this country, I'll probably never get the chance to see it performed, so reading it was indeed a treat.
July 20, 2023
Each play was better than the one prior, and I very much enjoyed James III. The first two plays seemed to have a lack of focus which I felt the final one did, and Munro’s later James IV mastered all that I felt was missing in this trilogy. It’s a nice re-imagining of the Stewart kings though and look forward to seeing the fifth and sixth!
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April 17, 2025"A King has no friends."
March 19, 2016
James I: The Key Will Keep the Lock. This is an history play in the great tradition of political history plays going back to Shakespeare and others in the Early Modern period--I mean by this that James I becomes a meditation on power, law, justice, and the responsibilities of a monarch, without being limited to that meditative element. James begins the play as a prisoner of Henry V of England (who is much less admirable here than Shakespeare presents him) and his cousin Duke Murdoc Stewart sits as regent of Scotland. When James in released and returned to Scotland he encounters all kinds of problems, and he must transform himself from the prisoner unable to out wrestle the dying Henry into a king strong enough to lead a hostile Scottish nobility, including Murdoc's sons who plot to overthrow their cousin.
James II: Day of the Innocents. This is definitely a much more challenging play to read, and I would imagine to stage, than its predecessor. While James I is largely a political play, much of James II is a dream play moving very quickly between the world of dream and reality--the nightmares of the young King James II blend seamlessly with the very dangerous political reality in which he finds himself. There are repetitions, but these are the easiest of the dream elements to stage in my mind. Things like black snakes flowing from the king's veins, and the rapid set changes between hell scenes, the blood spattered court, and James' bedroom seem much more difficult to me. I'd love to see the show performed and see how these effects were achieved.
James III: The True Mirror. The figure of James II reminds me a lot of Marlowe's Edward II, except reworked for a contemporary audience with more focus on Margaret (Isabella is a relatively minor character in the Marlowe, who is quickly surpassed by Mortimer) as a strong female ruler, a democratic thread, and even a plug for Scottish independence (of course, the plays debuted in 2014, a year with a referendum for Scottish independence). James is oddly democratic in his inefficiency and refusal to rule, rejecting the authority of aristocratic tradition and heritage as a right to rule or find favor with the monarch. However, his general indifference to the condition of Scotland exposes James' hypocrisy, especially his willingness to allow an English conquest. It is Margaret (the real protagonist of the play, despite James being the titular character) who actually struggles and stands up for Scotland's benefit. Near the end of the play she makes a stirring speech uniting the Scots under her rule (carried out in James' name), and she becomes the temporary savior of Scotland.
James II: Day of the Innocents. This is definitely a much more challenging play to read, and I would imagine to stage, than its predecessor. While James I is largely a political play, much of James II is a dream play moving very quickly between the world of dream and reality--the nightmares of the young King James II blend seamlessly with the very dangerous political reality in which he finds himself. There are repetitions, but these are the easiest of the dream elements to stage in my mind. Things like black snakes flowing from the king's veins, and the rapid set changes between hell scenes, the blood spattered court, and James' bedroom seem much more difficult to me. I'd love to see the show performed and see how these effects were achieved.
James III: The True Mirror. The figure of James II reminds me a lot of Marlowe's Edward II, except reworked for a contemporary audience with more focus on Margaret (Isabella is a relatively minor character in the Marlowe, who is quickly surpassed by Mortimer) as a strong female ruler, a democratic thread, and even a plug for Scottish independence (of course, the plays debuted in 2014, a year with a referendum for Scottish independence). James is oddly democratic in his inefficiency and refusal to rule, rejecting the authority of aristocratic tradition and heritage as a right to rule or find favor with the monarch. However, his general indifference to the condition of Scotland exposes James' hypocrisy, especially his willingness to allow an English conquest. It is Margaret (the real protagonist of the play, despite James being the titular character) who actually struggles and stands up for Scotland's benefit. Near the end of the play she makes a stirring speech uniting the Scots under her rule (carried out in James' name), and she becomes the temporary savior of Scotland.
August 3, 2019
"I don't want you to kneel to me, to King James. I want you to kneel to Scotland." - King James I
"You know the problem with you lot? You've got fuck-all except attitude." - Queen Margaret of Scots
This cycle of history plays chronicling the reigns of three of Scotland's Stewart Kings premiered in the advent of the Scottish Independence referendum in 2014. Reading them in the wake of that, as I first did, they seemed like an attempt to create a canon of Scottish history plays, one that could compete with the Henriad as an exploration of what a nation could be represented as, how we portray our rulers, and the people that surround them. It seemed fiercely independent, and pro-independence. And it is all that.
Coming back to it now, almost 5 years after that referendum and 3 years after another one (I'm not going there) they seem to be about a nation battling to stop itself from being torn asunder. How individual ambition can and will destroy everything in its path, the bloody legacies that parents can leave their children, the impossibility of leading a nation intent on self-destruction.
It's not a sentimental view of Scotland, and it's not perfect. I have the first edition text, and I know that Munro made changes to James II in particular. James I is the most traditional history play, battles and speeches and so on. James II is the nightmare play that never quite settles on whether it's about a childhood spent in waiting for the throne or the inevitability of the loss of innocence as the king, and James III is basically Much Ado About Nothing. Queen Margaret is fabulous.
These are brilliant, epic plays that should be done again and again. They do not need the excuse of explanation of topicality.
"You know the problem with you lot? You've got fuck-all except attitude." - Queen Margaret of Scots
This cycle of history plays chronicling the reigns of three of Scotland's Stewart Kings premiered in the advent of the Scottish Independence referendum in 2014. Reading them in the wake of that, as I first did, they seemed like an attempt to create a canon of Scottish history plays, one that could compete with the Henriad as an exploration of what a nation could be represented as, how we portray our rulers, and the people that surround them. It seemed fiercely independent, and pro-independence. And it is all that.
Coming back to it now, almost 5 years after that referendum and 3 years after another one (I'm not going there) they seem to be about a nation battling to stop itself from being torn asunder. How individual ambition can and will destroy everything in its path, the bloody legacies that parents can leave their children, the impossibility of leading a nation intent on self-destruction.
It's not a sentimental view of Scotland, and it's not perfect. I have the first edition text, and I know that Munro made changes to James II in particular. James I is the most traditional history play, battles and speeches and so on. James II is the nightmare play that never quite settles on whether it's about a childhood spent in waiting for the throne or the inevitability of the loss of innocence as the king, and James III is basically Much Ado About Nothing. Queen Margaret is fabulous.
These are brilliant, epic plays that should be done again and again. They do not need the excuse of explanation of topicality.
December 5, 2016
The amazing production of the three James plays came to my little town of Adelaide for the 2016 festival, but sadly I was both too time poor (and just poor poor) to see any of the plays. I then got into Linda Porter’s book “Crown of Thistles” which gave a thorough treatment to the James kings, especially the early ones – so I was intrigued to read a modern interpretation of the complex 16th century world and country they ruled.
It’s the first time in a while I have read a play, so it took a little while to get used to. I also had to let go of my Shakespearean expectations of dialogue timbre – which meant it was more direct and helped me appreciate the beauty of Munro’s dialogue. I liked that the story didn’t get too bogged down in smaller details (and when you’re dealing with some of the big Scottish families – such as the Stewarts) but rather focused on the humanity of three very different men trying to find their way through intrigue and betrayal – and again reading Linda Porter’s book may have heightened my awareness of this (as her thesis is that the climate and history of the Scottish crown was such that it was always a complex job for people ill-supported to do it, with tragedy somewhat inevitable.)
It’s the first time in a while I have read a play, so it took a little while to get used to. I also had to let go of my Shakespearean expectations of dialogue timbre – which meant it was more direct and helped me appreciate the beauty of Munro’s dialogue. I liked that the story didn’t get too bogged down in smaller details (and when you’re dealing with some of the big Scottish families – such as the Stewarts) but rather focused on the humanity of three very different men trying to find their way through intrigue and betrayal – and again reading Linda Porter’s book may have heightened my awareness of this (as her thesis is that the climate and history of the Scottish crown was such that it was always a complex job for people ill-supported to do it, with tragedy somewhat inevitable.)
June 8, 2021
In between the years that Rona Munro wrote the last script of the original Dr Who series and another for Peter Capaldi, she has become one of Scotland’s foremost literary voices.
This trilogy about the early Stewarts is Shakespearean in its scope and concerns. In the first and best play James I fights to be the king he wants to be amid political turmoil. The key shall keep the lock, the king shall rule with justice. In Day of the Innocents Scottish political turmoil is seen through a child’s eyes. In The True Mirror, newly invented mirrors are punned to show that which reveals our true selves as a king abdicates his duty and nearly sells his country to England.
This is excellent drama and it’s to be hoped these plays are revived for the age of livestreams. Produced in the year of the Scottish independence referendum,
The set ends with a stirring speech from Queen Margaret about a country finding its identity. Interesting too to see English kings through Scottish eyes.
This trilogy about the early Stewarts is Shakespearean in its scope and concerns. In the first and best play James I fights to be the king he wants to be amid political turmoil. The key shall keep the lock, the king shall rule with justice. In Day of the Innocents Scottish political turmoil is seen through a child’s eyes. In The True Mirror, newly invented mirrors are punned to show that which reveals our true selves as a king abdicates his duty and nearly sells his country to England.
This is excellent drama and it’s to be hoped these plays are revived for the age of livestreams. Produced in the year of the Scottish independence referendum,
The set ends with a stirring speech from Queen Margaret about a country finding its identity. Interesting too to see English kings through Scottish eyes.
July 18, 2019
Absolutely amazing trilogy of plays. Very informative, simply mindblowing. I didn't see the production (in baby/young child bubble at the time) but reading the scripts went a little way to appeasing my regret.
If you're used to reading scripts, and have a good theatrical eye, you need to have a pack of tissues at hand. Fantastic read.
If you're used to reading scripts, and have a good theatrical eye, you need to have a pack of tissues at hand. Fantastic read.
June 5, 2018
James I - The Key Will Keep The Lock - 5 stars - great.
James II - Day Of The Innocents - 3 stars - weird, didn't enjoy as much
James III - The True Mirror - 5 stars - excellent
James II - Day Of The Innocents - 3 stars - weird, didn't enjoy as much
James III - The True Mirror - 5 stars - excellent
September 23, 2014
Superb. I saw the plays at the Edinburgh International Festival in August and thought they were excellent. Reading them brought back the performances.
February 26, 2016
Reading the play text I'm most impressed by James II. Though according to the review it was the weakest performance. Love the way of using modern language mixed with classical rhythm and structure.
September 9, 2016
I read the first two plays and loved them.
I saw all three plays in one day and it was the best theatre event of my life. I would love to see them again.
Reading did help but seeing is better.
I saw all three plays in one day and it was the best theatre event of my life. I would love to see them again.
Reading did help but seeing is better.
October 2, 2018
Love these plays! I saw them at the National Theatre of Scotland, as well as at London’s National Theatre.
March 29, 2016
Modern, but not modernized, and beautifully written.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews