In a way it is odd to
think back to a time when the dramatisation of Elizabeth I's life didn't
include Elizabeth R and Glenda Jackson. The Tudor Wench was Beatrix
Lehmann's first major starring role. She was 30 at the time (being born
only 3 years after the author) and playing a teenage girls, but all the
newspapers gave her glowing reviews and not one commented on her age.
The
play itself was taken from a part of Thane's novel. It focused on the
young Elizabeth. The play was little more than a romance. Indeed it
reminded me much more of the hollywood film than the BBC serial. A young
squire at court had caught Elizabeth's eye and the two flirted despite
the danger. The character of Seymour was particularly hideous as he
attempted to manipulate the girl into his arms, to secure the throne for
himself. Reading the play was difficult to see how much Elizabeth would
fear him or how much she welcomed his attentions. It seemed like she
wasn't fond of him. The one point she did kiss him back she admitted it
was the throne that attracted her, not the man.
It was for the last
part of the play, when Elizabeth came into her own, that I give this 4
instead of 3 stars. It was nice to see the glimpses of the Queen she was
to become. Though having had her mother executed, I don't see her as
quite the young carefree teenager she was in the first couple acts.
It
was an interesting play and I would have liked to have seen Beatrix in
the performance. I must admit it is not one I would be that interested
in if someone else was playing the young princess.
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