Jamie The Saxt
by Robert McLellan
by Robert McLellan
Jamie the Saxt tells the story of King James VI's early life and political struggles before he ascends to the throne of the united kingdoms.
About The Play
About The Play
This production commemorates the tercentenary of the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England, the centenary of the birth of the playwright Robert McLellan and the 70th anniversary of the play’s first production.
Jamie the Saxt is the story of King James VI – James I to the English – before he became the first monarch of the United Kingdoms on the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Young Jamie Stewart is shown as a statesman who, in spite of the threats to the crown, his own life, and the stability of the state, manages to triumph through an unheroic combination of luck, folly, tenacity and cunning. As the Act of Union is called into question by the SNP’s victory in the Scottish Parliament, the play is also a unique opportunity to see where the Union really began…
Every year, London theatregoers have the opportunity to see plays in many different languages – but very rarely in the indigenous voices of the British Isles themselves. Jamie the Saxt is a unique opportunity to hear Scots, one of the UK’s native languages, on the London stage. It should be stressed that the play is written in Scots – not Gaelic – and is easily comprehensible to most English speakers after a few minutes! The British government now accepts Scots as a regional language under the European Charter for Minority Languages – 1.5 million speak Scots in Scotland, and another 30,000 in Northern Ireland.
Jamie the Saxt was first performed in Glasgow in 1937, making Duncan Macrae, one of Scotland’s most celebrated actors, an overnight star. The Finborough Theatre now presents the play’s long-overdue English premiere.