Struggle with dialogue

Londoners will struggle to untangle the web of intrigue in Robert McLellan's 1937 masterpiece. Not just because of the complexities of the religious and international politics of the play, set in the court of James VI of Scotland (the future James I of England) in the 1590s, but because the dialogue is written in Scots.

If you find Robert Burns's 'Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie' impossibly exotic, prepare to be tested.

Fittingly, the most entertaining scenes are the ones where the characters, themselves caught in tricky, cross-cultural diplomacy, struggle and sometimes fail to understand one another. At one point, King James tries to get information out of an English stranger. He despairs because he can't follow his thick accent.

The English ambassador Sir Robert Bowes, on the other hand, enunciates admirably - the challenge in his case is not so much to understand the words he speaks, but to decipher the murky intentions underlying them.

The chief pleasure of Rae McKen's impressive production is John Wark's splendidly mercurial performance as the young king (pictured). There's good support from Gillian MacGregor as his Scandinavian queen - her Scottish-via-Danish accent is an enigmatic triumph.

Until Sep 1, Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road SW10, Tue to Sat 7.30pm, Sun mat 3.30pm, £9 and £12. Tel: 0870 400 0838. Tube: Earl's Court

Jamie The Saxt
Finborough Theatre
Finborough Road, SW10 9ED