Glory on Earth

A play by Linda McLean, Directed by Mark Stevenson

Theatre | Video Design, Caption Design | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Chandler Theatre, Glasgow | 2019

Claire Wetherall as Mary in a trailing red velvet cloak, blue handwritten captions projected behind her.
Claire Wetherall as Mary in Glory on Earth. Photo © Anne Joyeaux

Glory on Earth by Linda McLean divulges Mary Queen of Scots’ implacable downfall from her posthumous perspective. She recalls interactions with John Knox, the other Marys, reaching out to Queen Liz, and engaging her Privy Council in an effort to understand what went wrong. Six performances of the play were given in December 2019 in the Chandler Theatre at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland by the students of the BA Performance in BSL and English course.

I created a video and captioning design as part of the creative process together with the director, designer and the students. This meant instead of a standard captioning screen a much more dynamic experience was created, where captions existed with different behaviours and positions in the space, providing a more emotive and intuitive (and less descriptive) point of access.

Captioning screen detail: a handwritten quote projected on torn parchment above a performer's silhouetted head.
Gabriel Baicu as Knox cradles Claire Wetherall as Mary beside a stone arch bearing projected captions.
Claire Wetherall as Mary in a sweeping red cloak with Amy Murray, Irina Vartopeanu, Neil Shand and Emery Hunter behind her.
Benedetta Zanetti, Gabriel Baicu and Emery Hunter face off across the traverse stage beneath a parchment projection.
Neil Shand as Knox in black robes and cap among women in white, blue captions projected on the arch above.
Gabriel Baicu as Knox gestures emphatically at Amy Helena as Mary, projected captions glowing overhead.
Claire Wetherall, Benedetta Zanetti and Emery Hunter in white gowns beneath a handwritten parchment projection.
Neil Shand as Knox in half-light beside a rippling blue projection reading 'in the path towards glory'.
Projection detail: a masquerade playbill projected onto the stone archway above a carved wooden chair.
Photos © Robert McFadzean, Anne Joyaux

There are some photos of the show, but unfortunately no videos, so I made these “simulations” from the photos to help establish the feeling of the captioning design. Megan Adair designed two beautiful big long pieces of parchment which hang above either side of the audience in traverse, and an archway for Knox which stands downstage. These were our projection surfaces.

Mary’s Retreat - a simulated excerpt of a scene. Original image by Robert McFadzean (silent)

Letters to Bess - a simulated excerpt of the scene. Pictured centre is Queen Elizabeth I (Claire Wetherall). She is facing Mary Queen of Scots across stage as she reads her letter, with her back to Knox, whose letters she also reads in the scene. Original image by Robert McFadzean (silent)

Directed by Mark Stevenson
Written by Linda McLean
Performed by Claire Wetherall, Amy Helena, Amy Murray, Irina Vartopeanu, Benedetta Zanetti, Emery Hunter, Neil Shand and Gabriel Baicu
Captioning Advisor Bea Webster-Mockett
Set and Costume Design by Megan Adair
Lighting Design by Joshua Brown
Photos by Robert McFadzean and Anne Joxaux