A very exciting sneak preview of the film by Richard Jack of Enthuse TV of A Satire of Three Estates filmed live on The Peel at Linlithgow Castle on Saturday 8 June, 2013.
Capturing the Women’s Song, this contains some of the most sexually explicit language in the whole play – Â you have been warned!
A Satire of the Three Estates – Women’s Song from Enthuse TV on Vimeo.
The weather has been fine, and the reaction of the audience amazing. This morning we received this message from someone who saw the Satire yesterday:
This play should be part of the standard repertoire of the National Theatre and performed throughout the land at regular intervals. I had the good fortune to attend yesterday’s performance of Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estatis at Linlithgow. From the opening lines I was captivated. The formulaic introduction ceased to be formulaic straightaway. the directness and power of Lindsay’s language had me captivated in two lines, but the real joy was to hear them delivered in my own first language. I wanted to weep and laugh for the pleasure of hearing the Scots language deployed in its full range. Beyond that reaction, there were times in the play when I found myself gasping at the audacity of the attacks Lindsay made on the powers that be to their faces both in the content of the play and remembering the fact that it was performed in front of those self same powers. It is impossible to imagine Henry VIII tolerating the same. Nae sycophancy here! In terms of political thought and land reformation it anticipates the thinking that preceded the French revolution by two and a half centuries. The land reform question remains as alive an issue in Scotland today as it was then. John the Commonweal should also be given the opportunity to deliver his message to Mr Cameron. There was the odd moment when I wanted to shout, “And the bedroom tax!” The performers were superb, the setting and the weather outstanding, although my sympathies were with the cast wearing heavy Renaissance clothes in 23 degrees of heat with nary a breath of wind. I came away with the sense that as a people we have not changed so much either in our speech or our ways of thinking. That rumbustious freedom of speech allied to political thought based on fairness and the rights of all is a great gift we have inherited from our forebears. We need to be aware of it, retain it, and exercise it. It can’t make governing us any easier for a modern politician than it can have been for James V, but it is how it should be. Culturally and politically Scotland was a rich country, but the twentieth century saw a loss of confidence. Yesterday’s performance gave us a window back into a confident past that ought to give us belief in ourselves to tackle our future. A complete artistic triumph.
We would like to extend our thanks to Linsay for taking the time to feedback so eloquently on the production.
Tickets are STILL available. Don’t miss out!
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/threeestates
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Tickets still available, and the weather is fine! Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Satyre in its full glory!
Exactly 461 years ago today, the residents of Cupar were readying themselves for a groundbreaking piece of drama. Today, in Linlithgow, history will be made again when we perform Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis for the first time in its entirety since 1554!
Amazing dress rehearsal in amazing weather yesterday.
Tickets are still available and the weather is fine for the weekend so book your tickets NOW!
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/jousting/events/event_detail.htm?eventid=38810
And here’s BBC Scotland on the historical significance of the play:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-22804585
It is a strange nostalgic feeling that as long ago as 1552 the same words were spoken in Cupar and a similar bunch of travelling actors enjoyed playing the very same bawdy characters.
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We were very grateful when Kirsty Wark agreed to talk to us about the Satyre of The Thrie Estaitis over the phone this week. Â She was incredibly knowledgeable about the play’s political dimensions and performance possibilities, and wholeheartedly supported the production. Â Below are the edited highlights of the conversation. Thanks Kirsty!
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We did a full-run of the play today: part 1 in the morning, and part 2 in the afternoon. It was especially good to see the ensemble nature of performance between Flattery, Falsehood and Deceit developing. There was much laughter in the rehearsal room at the trio. What Tom noted the other day about Gerdaâs performance in Part 2 is also true of part 1, Good Counsel really emerges as a voice of reason against the sheer exuberance and chaos in this hald. This is especially evident when she is rejected from the court, but reacts by saying, âSen at this time I can get na presence,/ Is na remeed but take in patienceâ and goes quietly into a corner to read her Bible. Against all the madness, she is an oasis of calm.
In the afternoon we looked at Part 2. At one point I found myself sitting in the âfieldâ taking photos of the parliament and it was an interesting experience. Even though you are spatially excluded to some extent, the fact that action is happening all around you and that you are seated so close to the parliament means that you become a really active listener. I was reminded of James Vâs publication of The New Actis and Constitutionis in 1542 â readers of which might not have been able to alter the legislation but were nevertheless privy to previously closed institutional processes.  Maybe this is a dramatic equivalent of such publication of parliamentary proceedings.
We also staged the arse-kissing divorce. Pictures speak louder than words!
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Here’s what Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond has been saying about Satire of Three Estates
“David Lyndsay’s’ ‘Satire of the Three Estates’ was an extraordinarily bold piece of theatre given the political context in which it was first performed in 16th century Scotland. The play raises profound questions about the nature of monarchy, the role of the popular voice in Scottish politics, the nature of Scottish civic, national and religious identity, and the moral fabric of civil society; themes which still have the power to resonate with us almost 500 years later.
In today’s context the play stands out as one of the greatest pieces of literature in the Scots language and I am delighted that it will be performed for modern audiences this June at Scotland’s historic venues of Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle.”
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Today we had the first full fitting of the costumes, allowing us for the first time to see the magnificent work of Hilary Lewis and her team. The courtly costumes are sumptuous, and the vices, with their scaly legs and huge tufted ears both comic and slightly sinister in their animalism. Correctionâs wings were again a highlight, as was the Abbottâs strikingly oversized mitre. Special work was spent in the morning on the tricky scenes in which the clergy were disrobed, which need to be swift and comic.
The seating in parliament for part two was rearranged to have the three estates alone sitting alongside Rex and Correction, with the other clergy placed behind Spirituality and the Courtiers and Good Counsel behind the secular estates. This made the power politics of the session more starkly evident, giving graphic evidence for Temporalityâs defiant claim to Spirituality that âye are but ane estate and we are twaâ.
We also worked on the final lines, and the singing that will accompany Follyâs sermon and provide the play with a resounding climax and the cast with a curtain call.
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The morning was spent working intensely on the first part of Act 2. It was noticeable the change in the tone of the piece between Act 1 where reform seems relatively easy to the detailed to debates that are required in Act 2 to restore the commonweal. In rehearsal what becomes apparent is the extent to which Parliament often becomes a row between the clergy on one side and John the Commonweal and the Pauper on the other. Tom McGovernâs Spirituality is not simply a corrupt cleric, as the role has developed he has become more and more dangerous and disturbing. It was also interesting to note the amount of variation that Paul Cunningham as Temporality and Michael Mackenzie as Merchant found in their roles; as the play focuses more and more on the corruption of the clergy Temporality and Merchant become allies to Divine Correction and Rex Humanitus. In particular, during the rehearsals this morning Temporalityâs role in placing the focus on the clergy, with Merchantâs support, came to the fore.
It was also interesting to note how important Good Counselâs role is in the first part of Act 2 in keeping the Parliament on track. Gerda Stevensonâs Good Counsel is consistently the voice of reason and in rehearsal there were a number of moments when having a woman playing the role really brought out its rational and calming status. When all the men were shouting at each other it was Good Counsel who brought them back on track with her wisdom and patience.
The afternoon was taken up with a fight call and further work on Act 2.
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