The Oxburgh Hangings
The Oxburgh Hangings are a remarkable collection of needlework hangings kept at Oxburgh Hall, a National Trust property in Norfolk. The embroideries were made by Mary, Bess and their ladies during the long term of imprisonment. In the stifling atmosphere of her incarceration, Mary used embroidery as a form of therapy and communication with the outside world, when more conventional means were forbidden. The most famous of the embroideries is now known as the Norfolk Panel; it shows a giant female hand pruning an orchard. It was a coded message to the Duke of Norfolk that he should marry her and bring an end to Elizabeth’s barren, childless reign. Marriage was a way out for Mary: a means of restoring her to the throne and escaping her imprisonment. For Norfolk, it represented an opportunity to scale the unimaginable heights of becoming a royal. Elizabeth repeatedly asked him if he was considering marriage to Mary, and he denied it, until the story came out that the marriage was planned alongside a rebellion in the north of England. Norfolk was arrested, then released, but a year later he was still plotting along the same lines. During his trial, the embroidery and other incriminating letters from Mary were used as evidence against him. He was found guilty of treason and executed.
After 450 years, the colour has faded, but the hangings are still astonishing. I made the trip to Norfolk in the early stages of my research, and it completely changed the play. The small room containing the hangings gives a sense of who these women were, and the appalling claustrophobia of their situation. There’s an obsession with journeys, with the outside world and with exotic animals that they would never have the freedom to see. Flora, fauna, birds and beasts are all represented, from an ordinary chicken through to monstrous, nightmare-like inventions, full of rage and impotent fury. Flowers burst out of the borders; emblems of births, deaths, the inevitability of an enclosed life. Day after day in the same rooms, doing nothing. ‘Who am I?’ ‘Where are we?’ ‘Why are we here?’ they seem to ask.
Bess of Hardwick
Bess’s embroidery is known as the Cavendish Hanging, because it refers not to her fourth husband, or even her third, but her second. From humble beginnings, Bess had used her intelligence, financial ability and charm to accumulate vast wealth. Her first husband died very early in their marriage, while they were both still teenagers, so her second, William Cavendish, probably felt like her first real relationship. The couple were together for ten years and had eight children. Together they built Chatsworth, an enormous house in Derbyshire, but then he died suddenly. The debts he left behind meant she was forced to marry again immediately, and when her third husband, William St Loe, also died, she again remarried with speed, and this time in a spectacular raising of her status, to the Earl of Shrewsbury. Her fourth marriage made her the richest woman in England apart from the Queen. William Cavendish kept a detailed, tidy journal, and it seems he taught Bess how to keep accounts. The Accounts Room at Hardwick Hall is a real thing: an extraordinary room that looks like the Tudor equivalent of a giant filing cabinet gone mad. Boxes line the walls up to the ceiling. The room would have been built after Cavendish’s death, and I had a vision of Bess hiding away behind her accounts when her problems oppressed her. The Cavendish Hanging is a devastating expression of grief: in Bess’s world, the rain is in the shape of tears, and the Latin motto reads ‘Tears witness that the quenched flame lives.’ It was only after leaving Oxburgh that I noticed the glove in the bottom left-hand corner, ripped in two. It seemed like a perfect metaphor for the relationship between Bess and Rose.
At first her fourth marriage was a success – the Earl’s letters to her from Court are full of love and affection. But the strain of guarding a royal prisoner for years took a terrible toll. Bess accused George of having an affair with Mary; he accused her of spending too much money, and they both found looking after a queen stressful, expensive and thankless. Elizabeth did not like having to pay the expenses, so they had to often pay for things themselves. Eventually the couple separated and the Earl’s letters became bitter and angry.
Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield, is where Bess lived both as a child and later as an older, much richer woman, when she rebuilt the Hall in spectacular fashion. It’s an extraordinary building: an outrageous, angry display of wealth after she became estranged from George. The building glares down at you as you drive up the M1, Bess’s initials (ES) displayed in giant lettering on the ramparts. The Zenobia and Penelope tapestries are part of a series displayed here: larger-than-life, sleekly black and gold, they are breathtakingly modern in themselves. These are images of strong women, tall and fierce, without an ounce of religious imagery or the usual pious celebrations of the status quo. Bess obviously loved the Penelope story; she had an entire room with a throne at one end and little else apart from wall-to-wall tapestries telling the story of Odysseus returning home. The concept of women quietly stitching in submissive, elegant silence, does not apply at Hardwick Hall. It’s more like a proud display of female fierceness, well before its time.
The Glove Thief was first performed by students of Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance at Ugly Duck, London, on 15 June 2017, with the following cast:
ROSE 1 Katie Spencer-Blake
ROSE 2 Adriana Moore
BESS 1 Daisy Adams
MARY 1 Jesse Bateson
SEATON / VILLAGER Alice Renshaw
LIVINGSTON/VILLAGER Ellie-Jane Goddard
ELIZABETH 1I Siobhan Bevan
CECILY Rachel Lemon
BESS 2/ ELIZABETH 2 Billie Hamer
MA/KNOLLYS/MARY 2 Grace Liston
GEORGE/GUARD/
VILLAGER Jorginho Osuagwu
DUKE OF NORFOLK/
VILLAGER/RIZZIO Robert Rickman
LESLEY/COURTIER/
VILLAGER/
HUNTINGDON/
LANDLORD Niall Cullen
MR CROMPE/DARNLEY/MA’S NEW MAN/GUARD Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
WALSINGHAM James Killeen
Director Ola Ince
Designer Elle Rose
Lighting Designer Harvey Fitzpatrick
Sound Designer Harvey Allen
Musical Directors Adriana Moore & Ellie-Jane Goddard
Production Manager Callum Spalding-Wood
Technical Manager Sam Jackson
Stage Manager Martin Johnson
Deputy Stage Manager Paige Lee Summers
Assistant Stage Manager Ben Tooth
Head of Sound Oscar Cotran
Sound Operator George Hartop
Head of Lighting James Orr
Lighting Operator Paul Salmon
Production Electrician Adam Wileman
Scenic Project Manager Oli Tratt
Scenic Artists Rebecca Nicholson & Meggie Settle
Costume Supervisor Grace Seabrook
Costume Makers Elise Maynard & Ane Hoel Lotherington
Costume Assistants Grace Taylor Shaw, Alice Wooding, Molly Bennett, Hannah Liggins, M. K. Morrell & Bethan Price
Production Note
Casting
The play can be performed by a minimum of sixteen people (twelve female, four male), with no maximum size. I have deliberately kept the number of waiting ladies flexible to help with differing cast sizes. I think you would struggle to have only one waiting lady, but should that happen, feel free to change ‘we’ to ‘I’, etc. If, like me, you prefer actors to have named roles, there are plenty to choose from, including Blanche Parry, Katherine ‘Kat’ Ashley, Elizabeth Knollys, Lettice Knollys, Mary Radcliffe and Mary Sidney. They would have generally had the title ‘Lady X ’. If you are short of men, Huntingdon’s role in the penultimate scene could be performed by Lord Walsingham, with the name reference changed accordingly.
Narrators
When we were rehearsing the play at Rose Bruford College, the ‘split’ characters (Bess 1 and 2, Rose 1 and 2, Mary 1 and 2) were the most successful when they had a close physical connection to each other, rather than staying separately to one side talking to the audience. Rose 2 says what Rose 1
is thinking, so she needs to be feeling the same feelings, experiencing the same events, and their energy should mirror each other.
Accents
The play contains characters speaking in a whole host of different ways, but there is no need to try to find any ‘truth’ in the accents unless you wish to. George, Bess and Cecily grew up in Derbyshire; Rose in Staffordshire; Mary, Seaton and Livingston may have had either French or Scottish accents because they spent their childhoods in France; Elizabeth and Walsingham would probably have spoken with something approaching what we now call RP (received pronunciation); while Norfolk could have had either an RP or Norfolk accent. Rose’s speech rhythms are deliberately relaxed to give the sense that she has grown up in a different social circle to the others; but beyond that, if you prefer, feel free to use the natural accents of the cast.
Set and Costumes
The intention is that you can perform this play with minimal set and costumes, or go all out and have the full Elizabethan extravaganza – whichever you choose. The only person who really needs to look in a particular way is Elizabeth, because her image was an enforced part of her identity, something she could not escape from. But how you show that is up to you. The scenes should generally flow smoothly from one to the next, with minimal gaps.
A Note on the Text …
indicates that a character has run out of things to say.
– indicates an interruption.
/ indicates the point of interruption during the previous character’s speech.
Characters
Three of the characters – ROSE, MARY and BESS – have their own narrator. The narrator is given the number ‘2’ after her name.
THE SHREWSBURY HOUSEHOLD
BESS (1 and 2), Countess of Shrewsbury; ‘Bess of Hardwick’, one of the richest women in England, after Queen Elizabeth I
ROSE (1 and 2), a young woman who has grown up in Tutbury, Staffordshire
GEORGE TALBOT, Earl of Shrewsbury; Bess’s fourth husband
CECILY, a servant working for the Shrewsbury household
OTHER SERVANTS
QUEEN MARY’S HOUSEHOLD
MARY (1 and 2), the former queen of Scotland, who has abdicated her throne and fled the country to England
MARY SEATON, a lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots, who has been with her since she was a child
MARY LIVINGSTON, a lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots, who has also been with her since she was a child
JOHN LESLEY, Bishop of Ross, Mary’s ambassador to Queen Elizabeth
QUEEN ELIZABETH’S HOUSEHOLD
ELIZABETH I, QUEEN OF ENGLAND, Queen for the last ten years; the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
LADY PARRY, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, who has been with her for many years
THOMAS, Duke of Norfolk, a nobleman who had once been close to Elizabeth; one of the richest men in England
LORD WALSINGHAM, an adviser to Queen Elizabeth
WAITING LADIES TO QUEEN ELIZABETH, women who attend the Queen at all times of the day and night
COURTIERS AND GUARDS
OTHERS
THE EARL OF HUNTINGDON, an English nobleman
VILLAGERS OF TUTBURY
ACT ONE
Scene One
Tutbury, February 1569.
ROSE 1 and ROSE 2.
ROSE 2. The night before it all starts, I have a row with Ma because she’s found out I’ve been stealing. She yells at me, says I could have got caught. I tell her –
ROSE 1. I never stole anything in me life!
ROSE 2. Which is a lie – I steal something at least once a week. Ma does her usual bit about how she wishes she had a son instead of me, that she can’t hold her head high in society –
ROSE 1. What are you talking about? We live in a stinking hovel!
ROSE 2. She gasps and takes a swing – but it doesn’t hurt because she’s too drunk and can’t see what she’s doing. Then Ma’s New Man comes in.
ROSE 1. Oh, no…
ROSE 2. Incidentally he does have a name, but they change so often I just call them all New Man. Ma says, ‘Oh, New Man, she’s been stealing again.’ And New Man says, ‘We’re not angry, just disappointed.’
So I leave before being tempted to throw something very hard at his face.
I go to The Dog and Partridge. I drink the dregs of someone else’s pint while they’re not looking, and relieve a poor old gent of a burden he shouldn’t have to shoulder in his later years.
ROSE 1 holds out a wallet.
And then I go to my favourite place, which is this ditch on the other side of the river, just beyond the village.
ROSE 1 sits on the floor.
I don’t sleep very much because it’s February and I’m gonna die if I don’t keep moving, but for a while I wrap myself up and look at the castle. It’s high above my head, and I can see the candlelight flickering where the rich folks go about from room to room. I reckon they’ve got time to have clever thoughts because they don’t have to think about how they’re gonna survive the night.
I tell myself:
ROSE 1. Tomorrow, I’m gonna finally leave this place. I can’t stay in Tutbury. I’ve got to get out of here, go and learn to do something proper and beautiful, like… sewing!
ROSE 2. Don’t laugh. I know it’s not for people like me. But I like patterns. These grubby little hands that currently steal from others could become –
ROSE 1. The delicate fingers of a seamstress!
ROSE 2. Alright. It’s a long shot.
But the wallet I’ve stolen will give me enough money to get to a new village, get employment somewhere, start doing something with my life.
It feels good.
ROSE 1. Tomorrow is the start of a new dawn!
ROSE 2. Then I open up the wallet.
ROSE 1 opens the wallet.
And there’s nothing in it.
ROSE 1 sighs. She puts her head in her hands.
And I wonder how long I can just sit there, without moving, considering the sheer, blinding, pointlessness of my life, before I freeze into a statue.
But that’s because it’s the night before it starts, and as of tomorrow, I start to be a little bit less pointless.
This is the story of a thief who changed the course of history.
Enter BESS 2, a WAITING LADY, and MARY 2.
MARY 2. No. It’s the story of a queen who triumphs over adversity.
WAITING LADY. It’s the story of a sovereign who extends the hand of friendship to an unworthy cousin.
BESS 2. It’s an administrative nightmare, that’s what it is.
Everyone exits except BESS 2, who stays onstage for the next scene.
Scene Two
In The Dog and Partridge Inn, Tutbury, the next day.
BESS 1, BESS 2 and WALSINGHAM.
BESS 2. I am not fond of taverns, especially the notorious Dog and Partridge. But I have been summoned here to meet the master schemer himself, Lord Walsingham. And an invitation from Walsingham cannot be refused.
BESS 1 is looking at paperwork.
I am reading papers that chart the journey of Mary, Queen of the Scots, as she makes her inexorable way towards my house.
WALSINGHAM. She escaped from Scotland in a fishing boat and has been held at Bolton Castle. She will arrive here tomorrow.
BESS 1. Why us?
WALSINGHAM. If she goes home now, her own people will kill her. But if she travels to France or Spain she will become a rallying cry for Catholics everywhere. The kingdom is too unstable – there are plots and rumours enough already without adding fuel to the fire. Her Majesty feels that you are one of the few people she can trust. Mary will stay with you until a safe return to Scotland can be arranged.
BESS 1. We are barely ready. The castle is freezing and the kitchen’s too small.
WALSINGHAM. Her Majesty appreciates the inconvenience.
BESS 1. We will need more money.
WALSINGHAM. Your husband indicated otherwise.
BESS 1. George knows nothing of the accounts.
WALSINGHAM. We have already provided a / significant –
BESS 1. Nothing like enough – it will cost me fifty-two pounds a week.
WALSINGHAM. I will entreat Her Majesty for more funds.
BESS 1. Thank you.
WALSINGHAM. Grant me a favour in return. I need to know everything she says. Obtain a copy of all correspondence and send it to me.
BESS 1. I thought she was forbidden to write –
WALSINGHAM. On the contrary, it should be encouraged. How else will we know her plans? But she must not know it is being intercepted. One of my men will come here once a week to collect anything you have. If there is something urgent – concerning Her Majesty’s safety – it is better for it to come straight to London. Send someone who would never be suspected.
BESS 1 goes to the door.
BESS 1. Cecily.
Enter CECILY.
CECILY. Yes, madam?
BESS 1. She’s been with me since she was a little girl. (To CECILY.) This is Lord Walsingham.
WALSINGHAM (studying CECILY). Yes. Good.
BESS 1. How will I make sure she reaches you safely?
WALSINGHAM. I have people stationed at inns all the way along the London road – if she presents an agreed token she will be looked after and accompanied to the next one with no questions asked. What will be the token?
BESS 1. This ring?
She shows him a ring, which he briefly inspects.
WALSINGHAM. Very well.
BESS 1. We have insufficient staff.
WALSINGHAM. Recruit more, pick them up off the street if you have to.
BESS 1. I cannot just coopt people –
WALSINGHAM. Accuse them of a crime, then tell them they can either face justice or come and work for you.
BESS 1. Is that how you do it?
WALSINGHAM. Cecily, here is your first task. See that girl out there? I want you to make it look as though she has stolen your mistress’s glove.
The Glove Thief Page 2
