James V : Katherine, Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

This was a very different offering to the previous plays in series. They were full length plays, with complicated and impressive sets, dramatic costumes, big casts and star names. Playing to big audiences. Everything about #5 reverses those attributes. Minimalist set and costumes, a cast of four, playing six parts, a run time of less than ninety minutes, no big name star. And the titular king only features towards the end.

So a very different creature from what went before, and expectations need recalibrating. As before it does take it's starting point from real events. In this case the death of Scotland's first protestant martyr, Patrick Hamilton (Benjamin Osugo). But the story is centred on the impact of said death on his sister, Katherine (Catriona Faint), and her avoidance of the same fate as her sibling. This is where fiction takes over, as Katherine battles with her conscience, the social impact of her (female) lover (Alyth Ross), and the influence of the king, leading her to choose love and life over faith.

When I say the set was minimalist I mean there was one wooden bench, and little else. Costumes were sombre, with barely a nod to period. But the theatricality is still there. The early scenes, with preacher Patrick in full rant at times, felt overly polemical, but the drama took over and improved as things progressed. It picked up markedly during Katherine's trial and the intervention by the young king (Sean Connor), with his speech bringing threat and comedy and a sense of balance. And a strong ending to conclude.

There were several contemporary themes that resonated, as is usually the case from Rona Munro's pen. The conflict between ideologies, and love and humanity (with love winning out in this case). Societal dangers of clashing religious extremes. The casual corruption of power. All so familiar right now.

My initial sense was one of disappointment, but that was only because expectations were not being met. Recalibrated, and with the script delivering more as time passed, I enjoyed the experience. It might be the weakest of the James series to date (will there be a James VI?), but there's still plenty to entertain, and ponder over. Worth seeing.

James IV : Queen of the Fight, Festival Theatre

 Two young Moorish women find themselves unexpectedly becoming 'guests' of the court of King James.  They hadn't been coming to Scotland, but piracy is commonplace in the early 16th century, and Scotland is where they will now live their lives.  The Lady Anne (Laura Lovemore) is to be the queen's companion, her servant Ellen (Danielle Jam) is to become an entertainer.  They are fortunate that there is already a black face in a prominent role at court, who can translate for them until they learn Scots, and makes them feel welcomed.  Peter (Thierry Mabonga) is one of the King's closest advisers, and ensures the women have the protection of James (Daniel Cahill).  Both Anne and Ellen become influential figures in their own right, but are also acutely aware of how vulnerable their position in this society really is, their combination of gender and skin colour making them easy meat to fall upon when the wind changes.

Through their interactions with others we see plots and policies of the time, and how personal relationships are governed by realpolitik - James is married to Margaret Tudor (Sarita Gabony), and any heir she produces could potentially become monarch of both Scotland and England (as a later descendant does, a century on).  The loneliness of kingship, the constant undercurrent of racism, the precarious nature of living in a court where whims can change, all show up in a maelstrom of a plot that moves along at a barnstorming pace and leaves the audience wondering how an hor has passed by already.

It's exciting, with some brilliantly choreographed fight sequences.  It's hilarious funny at times, with the best lines going to the obsequious Makar, Dunbar (Keith Fleming), and Dame Phemy (Blythe Duff), with Duff clearly relishing the chance to explout arch-bitch mode.  Her comic timing is impeccable.

Ellen begins and closes the play with a monologue, tying in he reality of our time with that of the characters.  Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. But in the closing minutes of the drama there is one line resonates above all others.  "Scotland - remember who you are."

Superb theatre, an entertainment as well as a serious drama, and a great achievement.

Iain Dale : All Talk, Gilded Balloon at the Museum, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Dale, an LBC talk show presenter, is hosting a series of conversations with a variety of guests during the first week and a bit of this year's Fringe.  Today's guest was historian David Starkey.  He's best known to the public as a TV presenter of (almost exclusively) English history, and for his controversial, views on politics shows like the BBC's Question Time.

He began on a note that certainly chimed with me, saying that whatever you were trying to put it across, be it university lecture, TV programme or whatever, one of the keys to getting your information across was to make sure it was also entertaining, because that's what keeps people's attention.  And, true to that philosophy, Starkey was often very funny, sometimes erudite, and he tells a good story.  Dale really had very little to do in prompting him to talk.  Just light the blue touch paper...

He admits he likes being the centre of attention and is, in his own words, still a "naughty boy".  Which, in part, might be why he seeks to be so controversialist at times.  This can result in some peculiar dichotomies.  An openly gay man who's critical of, even bigoted against, other gay men who, as he sees it, want to emulate a straight lifestyle.  If you've been on the receiving end of bigotry, as he admitted he had, it would surely make you avoid doling out the same to others?  He also sought to try and provoke a Scottish audience, initially by dismissing Burns, but then presenting a view of the union of parliaments in 1707 that missed out several salient facts.  He says it was the Scots who sought the union.  There's a truth in that, if you stick to the aristocracy, but it ignores the riots in the Edinburgh streets in protest against it.  And if the union was so popular why were so many British army garrisons built across Scotland in the years that followed?

The mask really slipped near the end, when he described Henry VIII building England as "an island fortress".  Woolly thinking?  Sloppy language?  Not something I'd expect from him.  This was the Little Englander mentality laid bare.

Dale never really pushed his guest so the result was somewhat anodyne.  Starkey emerged as surprisingly entertaining, even likeable at times, but there's definitely something nasty lurking underneath...

Iain Dale : All Talk is on in the Gilded Balloon Teviot (already sold out) and Gilded Balloon at the Museum until 11 August.

Susan Morrison : Walking Dead, Famous and Funny, The Stand Monument, Edinburgh Fringe

Less a walking tour and more a stand around under the trees of Saint Andrew Square, but none the worse for that.  Comedian and amateur historian Morrison gave a bit of background on Edinburgh's Old Town before launching into tales of the new Town and why it came into being.  Largely because of shit according to this version....

She used a tablet, and some old books, to illustrate her points, covering the seedier side of life.  If you ever wanted to know the finer points of our eighteenth century prostitutes then this was just what you were after.

Always hilarious, often informative, motormouth Susan crammed more into an hour than most historians would manage in a term's worth of lectures.  History was never so entertaining.