Glory on Earth
A play by Linda McLean, Directed by Mark Stevenson
Glory on Earth by Linda McLean divulges Mary Queen of Scots’ implacable downfall from her posthumous perspective. She recalls interactions with John Knox, the other Marys, reaching out to Queen Liz, and engaging her Privy Council in an effort to understand what went wrong. Six performances of the play were given in December 2019 in the Chandler Theatre at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland by the students of the BA Performance in BSL and English course.
I created a video and captioning design as part of the creative process together with the director, designer and the students. This meant instead of a standard captioning screen a much more dynamic experience was created, where captions existed with different behaviours and positions in the space, providing a more emotive and intuitive (and less descriptive) point of access.
Claire Wetherall as Mary in Glory on Earth. Photo © Anne Joyeaux
There are some photos of the show, but unfortunately no videos, so I made these “simulations” from the photos to help establish the feeling of the captioning design. Megan Adair designed two beautiful big long pieces of parchment which hang above either side of the audience in traverse, and an archway for Knox which stands downstage. These were our projection surfaces.
Mary’s Retreat - a simulated excerpt of a scene. Original image by Robert McFadzean (silent)
Letters to Bess - a simulated excerpt of the scene. Pictured centre is Queen Elizabeth I (Claire Wetherall). She is facing Mary Queen of Scots across stage as she reads her letter, with her back to Knox, whose letters she also reads in the scene. Original image by Robert McFadzean (silent)
Directed by Mark Stevenson
Written by Linda McLean
Performed by Claire Wetherall, Amy Helena, Amy Murray, Irina Vartopeanu, Benedetta Zanetti, Emery Hunter, Neil Shand and Gabriel Baicu
Captioning Advisor Bea Webster-Mockett
Set and Costume Design by Megan Adair
Lighting Design by Joshua Brown
Photos by Robert McFadzean and Anne Joxaux
