“Mother’s Daughter”:https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/Production/Mothers-Daughter is one of the plays showing this season at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. It is the third in a series written by Kate Hennig in her Queenmaker trilogy. We saw the second one last season, The Virgin Trial, about Elizabeth I before she was queen. Unfortunately we missed the first one in the series, The Last Wife about Katherine Parr.
Mother’s Daughter is about Mary I, or “Bloody Mary” as she has been known, and her relationship with her mother, Katherine of Aragon (who appears as a ghost), Lady Jane Grey and Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth I. It is a very interesting look at how the most powerful woman in the country could have such little power over her own life and choices. It also shows how easy it could be to become paranoid in that environment – whom can she really trust? Hennig provides a perspective that is very thought-provoking and the play is well-acted.
The flower beds surrounding the theatre are a riot of colour and add some interest during intermission.
This play is on at the Studio Theatre in Stratford until October 13, 2019. For those not familiar with the Tudor period, the program provides a timeline of events to put the play into context.