If history has taught us one thing, it must be that the unjust treatment of women is universal, regardless of their social status and birth privileges. Take the mighty queens. Catherine of Aragon, abandoned and shamed by Henry VIII (though at least she got out of it alive), Mary Queen of Scots’ turbulent life that ended in beheading, Elizabeth I (the one who actually arranged the beheading of her cousin Mary) didn’t have it easy either, always having to defend her position.
The list goes on and on, and honestly, as obsessed as I am with Renaissance, I’ll stick to modern times where I don’t risk getting burned at a stake for some herbs I add to tea or for telling a man to leave me alone, thank you very much.
Still, these stories are just fascinating, and I love learning more about forgotten figures from that era. Take Joanna of Castile, branded as Joanna the Mad, Catherine of Aragon’s big sister. That’s a moniker that will make you look, although personally, it’s a name I’d not heard of before. So big thanks to Castile Collective Ltd in association with Pinecone Performance Lab for bringing this story to us. Not only is it something fresh but also needed. Because we should never stop remembering all the women that maybe didn’t succeed but definitely tried to pave the way to the freedoms we enjoy today.
The story of Joanna of Castile is, unfortunately, not a surprising one for 16th century monarchic Europe. After a chain of events (well, more accurately, deaths) in her family, Joanna unexpectedly becomes the next queen of Castile and then, Aragon, upon her father’s death. ‘The Queen is Mad’ is a beautiful portrayal of this misunderstood woman. The title also tells you everything you need to know, because you’d get mad at living through this, too:
Your father, Ferdinand – here the amazing, caricatural Robert Finlayson – controls you, so you long to get away. You get married to ‘the handsome’ Philip, a wonderfully comic and sad portrayal by Brian Reftery, and soon learn he kind of just wants you to be pretty and give him babies. And once you finally have the baby and become queen, your own BABY boy (also Raftery!) keeps you locked up so he can be the only ruler. How could you, Isabella of Castile, played by stunning and talented Maria Coyne, not get mad?
Everything about this production is top notch. Supported by genius costume design by Eve Mary Oakley, the team makes the most of every inch of fabric and space given to them. Amy Clare Tasker and Tom James McGrath have created a truly memorable show that could easily turn into a spectacle on a much bigger scale.
Coyne is a rising star with a magnetic voice who belongs (alongside the whole show) on a massive stage where emotions run high, surrounded by memorable scores (McGrath beautifully, almost invisibly slips the music into the flow) but ultimately there was just not enough madness in the mad queen. Overall, I left a little unsatisfied at the sugar-coated approach to a story that I hoped would have just a little more edge, just a little more, well… rage.
