Interview: ‘Mary, Queen of Rock!’, Pretty Knickers Productions

Ahead of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, we’re chatting with a range of creatives who will be heading to the city over August to find out more about their shows. Today we’re chatting with Pretty Knickers Productions about Mary, Queen of Rock!

Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far? 

We are Pretty Knickers Productions, an Edinburgh based theatre company established in 2017 whilst studying for our undergraduate Acting degree at Napier University. 

We wanted to create our own work and place women at the centre of our stories. Our main focus has always been championing new writing from Scottish artists. We have consistently performed at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2017 - every play has been written/produced by our in house team. 2024 will see our biggest and most ambitious project so far - a brand new Scottish musical inspired by the story of Mary, Queen of Scots. 

What is your show about? 

‘Mary, Queen of Rock!’ is a modern retelling of a Scottish icon’s story with a twist.  

We’ve taken a fresh look at the history of Mary, Queen of Scots by placing her as a rockstar monarch. 

Our Mary returns to a Protestant Scotland that has seen at outright ban on rock and roll. She appears to be the star Scotland has been longing for but the noblemen at Presbyterian Records do their very best to mould her into a more suitable pop-star, like her cousin Lizzie down South. 

Love, loss and regret ensue. We all know how her story ends… but rock and roll lives on forever.

What was the inspiration for Mary, Queen of Rock! and what’s the development process been to get to this stage? 

The writing team (Mhairi McCall, Cal Ferguson & Lewis Lauder) were discussing development ideas and were really keen to work on a new musical. Mary, Queen of Scots name was mentioned and we thought… why has there never been a musical about Mary? 

We wanted to take a fresh approach to the story and loved the idea of using music as symbolism for Catholicism vs Protestantism and discussed how musical artists are effectively today’s royalty for most of us! 

We then started thoroughly researching her story and realised there were comparisons to draw between the real Mary and musical artists like Taylor Swift and Britney Spears. They have openly discussed the misogyny in the music industry and how frequently men power take credit for their successes whilst ensuring their downfalls. 

When Mary returned to Scotland, she was a star. The public adored her but the men in her life ensured she was taken down. 

As a writing team, we brought a lot of different qualities to the table. The biggest challenge was condensing such a mammoth of a story into a Fringe time slot - but we think we’ve got something really special and can’t wait to share it with audiences. 

What made you want to take Mary, Queen of Rock! to the Fringe? 

Edinburgh Fringe feels like home to us. We are all Edinburgh based artists and have been performing here since 2017. 

Last year, we brought our show ‘Salamander’ to Assembly and have absolutely loved working with them - so we’re delighted to be back with them, and this time at an even bigger venue. The Fringe is and should be a platform for artists like us to have our work showcased. Who knows how far our wee show can go! 

Apart from seeing Mary, Queen of Rock!, what’s your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this summer? 

Check out Assembly’s programme of course! We also love to see new writing at Summerhall so we’ll be spending a lot of time down there in between shows as well. 

We also can’t wait to check out the Femi Fringe guide provided by our friends at F-Bomb theatre company. They are doing great work to support female led companies like us! 

Why should people book Mary, Queen of Rock!? 

If you love musical theatre, rock and roll and proudly celebrate loud women - we have the show for you! 

It’s Scottish, it’s original, it’s set to be an amazing night out. We want people to leave Mary, Queen of Rock! with a new side to Mary in their minds and our incredible rock and roll soundtrack in their heads 

When and where can people see Mary, Queen of Rock!? 

You can find us at Assembly Rooms, George Street at 21:20 from 1st-25th August (not Wednesdays). See you there!