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Paul Cunningham, who played Temporality in both the Satire and the Interlude, reflects on the performances and the importance of The Three Estates as a play.

Having been with us throughout the project, Gerry says that he has grown to really appreciate how important this work is for the Scottish drama.  He reveals he might even do a “cabaret” version of it at some point in the future!  He talks about the excitement of being involved in the June productions, saying that in assembling such a stellar cast of actors, Greg Thompson was able to take the project beyond anything we might have imagined when we first gathered to read it through in January.  He also says that the play inspired some of the Scottish writers who were among its audience, such as Liz Lochhead and Ian Heggie.  Hopefully the ways in which the play has enthused and stirred the audience members as well as those involved in the production will bean important part of its legacy.

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

It was also interesting to note how important Good Counsel’s role is in the first part of Act 2 in keeping the Parliament on track. Gerda Stevenson’s 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.