What sort of plays would Shakespeare be writing if he were alive today? The short answer is that he probably wouldn't bother with theatre at all. Shrewd businessman that he was, he'd be knocking out scripts for Orange ad campaigns and Hollywood blockbusters instead
But if, by any chance, his muse did draw him nostalgically back to the playhouse, he might produce something like Glyn Maxwell's The Lifeblood.
It's an historical drama written in blank verse (Shakespeare's preferred form) about Mary, Queen of Scots - a highly divisive figure in Elizabethan England around the time the Bard started scribbling.
The Lifeblood is a political thriller that focuses on Walsingham's plot to execute the troublesome Catholic queen with pretensions to the English throne.
The early scenes of Guy Retallack's taut production take place in a shadowy world of intrigue and suspicion as a double agent is sent to spy on the Frenchified Queen of Scots in her captivity.
There is some nice comedy here, particularly in the interplay between the regal prisoner, her secretary and her puritan jailer. But it's in the later courtroom exchange that the drama really catches fire, when Mary, splendidly played by Sue Scott Davison, finds herself thrust into the spotlight.
Maxwell's play is an austere pleasure, which demonstrates that the seeming straitjacket of blank verse can prove surprisingly liberating. Perhaps more writers should try it.
- Until Oct 2, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road W6, Tue to Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm, Sep 22 mat 2pm, Oct 1 mat 3pm, £14, £9 concs. Tel: 020 8237 1111. www.riversidestudios.co.uk Tube: Hammersmith.
