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Queen Anne, by Helen Edmundson
Audio introduction to the Royal Shakespeare Company production
[Track 1]
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Index
Introduction and set
Characters and costumes
Cast and production credits
[Track 2] Introduction and set
Welcome to this introduction to the audio described performance of Queen
Anne, by Helen Edmundson, directed by Natalie Abrahami.
The play runs for just under three hours, including an interval of 20 minutes, a little over half way through. The audio describers, in order of speaking, are
Carolyn Smith and Julia Grundy.
England, ruled with Scotland by the Stuarts since the accession of James I in
1603 (apart from the period of the Civil War and Commonwealth), was still feeling the affects of the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. William of Orange had taken the throne, at the invitation of the Protestant establishment, in response to the perceived revival of Catholicism under James
II. It's 1702. William is on the throne and England is on the verge of war in
Europe. Princess Anne, James's surviving Protestant daughter, is soon to become Queen, and her advisors vie for influence over the future monarch.
Sarah Churchill, a close friend with whom Anne has an intensely personal relationship, begins to exert increasing pressure as she pursues her own designs on power. Sarah's influential husband, John Churchill, is Captain-
General of the English Armed Forces, in effect, a coalition of European powers, joined together to oppose Louis XIV of France in the upcoming War of the
Spanish Succession.

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Contending with deceit and blackmail, Anne must decide where her allegiances lie, and whether to sacrifice her closest relationships for the sake of the country.
All these events take place against a backdrop of the rise of the political pamphleteer. The Civil War had seen the first news sheets and embryonic newspapers, and now some of the wittiest writers of the age, including
Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, commented on the turbulent political scene with biting satire, in widely distributed pamphlets.
The setting for this production is sparse and stylised, with only a very few props in the bare space suggesting different locations, through a series of rapidly changing scenes.
The black polished floor is intersected by a faint pattern of large squares, almost like neat flagstones. The floor continues down the walkways from the front corners of the stage, which are used as entrances as well as the rear wings. The sheen of the floor reflects the warm tones of the few pieces of the furniture and the rich costumes. A the start of the play and on occasions throughout, plumes of haze rise up from the floor to suggest smoke filled rooms or foggy streets. A wall of mellow bricks fills the back of the stage, under the galleries. At times little pinpricks of light are projected onto the wall like the stars at night; later images of handwriting spread across the wall.
As we enter the auditorium the space is dominated by a four poster bed, placed lengthways in the middle of the stage. Constructed with slender mahogany posts, the bed is draped with richly patterned crimson and rose pink silk brocade curtains, and made up with matching bed covers and bolsters. Depending on the location, the bed moves back to leave the space bare, or turns sideways on. Behind the bed, in the two rear corners of the stage, are two enormous heaps of dead and drying flowers, mainly big pink roses, with their leaves. The flowers, in different stages of decay, are still full

3 of colour. On closer inspection, the flowers are mixed with sheets of paper, curled and stained, some single, and others in bundles, like unbound books.
The heap on the left hand side is about two metres high and wide, and the one on the right is about a metre. These remain throughout; at one point yellow light glows within them, suggesting the embers of a bonfire.
Just a few items of furniture are brought on to suggest a variety of locations.
The same furniture is used for each location, in different configurations. The mahogany pieces have a simple elegance, not yet the more severe classical styles of the Regency, but still graceful curves, in particular the slender legs of the small, leather topped rectangular writing tables. The dining chairs that are placed next to them also have gently curving legs and high backs, with bare wooden seats. Several of the tables, dotted around and topped with a domed walnut letter box, inkwells, quills, brass tankards and jugs, become the busy
Inns of Court. A writing table and chair at the back left become the Palace where the Queen writes her letters, and the same table and chair at the front right become the Churchills' residence
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[Track 3] Characters and costumes
The costumes are faithful to the period of the play, familiar from the graceful portraits of Lely and Kneller; a vivid array of silks and velvets, in rich warm colours, predominantly shades of red and yellow. Women dress in shimmering silk, usually overdresses with underskirts visible beneath, as well as frills of lace and muslin at the neck and at the end of sleeves. The tight fitting bodices have square necks, and the voluminous, heavy silk skirts are ruched into big folds at the waist. Their hair is pinned into waves on their heads, with a glossy ponytail of hair trailing down one side past their graceful necks.
The men are equally, if not more, colourful. They wear knee length frock coats in velvet or silk brocade, embellished with gold braid at the buttonholes, large

4 cuffs and lapels, over long fronted silk waistcoats. Beneath are toning breeches, stockings, and shoes with ribbon rosettes. All men of quality wear long heavy wigs of curls that fall to well beyond their shoulders. Some of the older men's fashions hark back to the reign of Charles II, with waist length jackets, lots of lace, and full breeches gathered into folds, reminiscent of trunk hose.
Soldiers are colourful in scarlet wool frock coats and breeches, adorned with gold brocade. They wear plain white cravats, heavy black boots, and tricorne hats, with their hair tied back in a plain, practical pigtail.
Servants, both men and women, wear black, and the dress of the less aristocratic members of the Queen's household is unadorned, sober colours.
The heir to the throne of England is the shy, diffident Princess Anne. In her thirties, plump, with a broad, pale face under brown hair, her dark eyes are full of pain. She has suffered from arthritic attacks all her life, and 17 pregnancies have taken their toll on her body, which, in public, is stiffly corseted into voluminous velvet dresses. We first meet her, in private, slumped listlessly in her apartments, following a miscarriage, wearing a plain black shift, with a dark grey velvet dressing gown with a gold pattern over it. Later, in mourning, she wears a black velvet gown with a train. As Queen, Anne wears cream satin patterned with black, and trimmed with ermine, an image familiar from her official portraits. Her gowns are old-fashioned for the time, extending out from the hips, echoing the farthingales of the Tudor period. Anne's emotional dependence on her close companion Sarah Churchill shows in the way her eyes never leave her friend, and the way she defers in her presence, almost as if their roles were reversed. Lacking Sarah's swift wit and intelligence, as Queen,
Anne nevertheless develops a stubborn set to her chin, as she tries to steer a course between the the rival Tory and Whig political factions.
Anne has a strong, loving relationship with her husband, Prince George of
Denmark, an easy going, unambitious man, who provides her with unconditional support. He, too suffers ill health – coughing and wheezing with

5 a chronic lung disease. George is stout, of medium height, with an open, pleasant face under a blonde periwig. Like Anne, George's clothes seem oldfashioned, though luxurious. He wears a white brocade doublet and elaborately pleated cotton trunk hose over white stockings and high-heeled shoes. Over his doublet he wears a scarlet velvet tunic with slashed sleeves. His lace- trimmed stock is tied so that it hangs down over his chest, and long lace cuffs partly cover his hands.
Anne’s brother-in-law, King William III, is small and thin, with a black periwig. He wears a brown velvet jacket, a pale brown waistcoat, black breeches and gold high-heeled shoes, with a sword at his waist. William's military background results in a brusque, no nonsense manner; he's visibly impatient with the emotions of his sister-in-law Anne.
Sarah Churchill is a stunning woman in her thirties. Tall and slender, she wears her loose blonde ringlets caught back from her face in a topknot, with a long ponytail sweeping over her right shoulder to her waist, a red camellia fastened behind her left ear. She has prominent cheekbones, large, longlashed hazel eyes, a wide, full-lipped mouth with pronounced Cupid’s bow, and a porcelain complexion. As befits her station, Sarah wears sumptuous gowns with fine lawn shifts beneath, showing as frills at the edge of her bodice and under her wide sleeves. Her style reflects her independent character – her dresses appear more modern, and less restrictive than the stiff-bodiced, wideskirted fashions worn by the other women. We first see her in her dressing gown, of crimson velvet with a train, loosely tied at the waist over a white night shift. Later she wears a rose pink taffeta dress, also with a train, and wide cuffs at her elbows, from which the sleeves of her shift billow. On another occasion, she's in a pale brown velvet robe with a gold leaf pattern.
The force of Sarah's personality dominates any space; her shrewd direct gaze can be warm, humorous or steely with anger. She manipulates Anne with a mixture of persuasive charm and abrupt commands. She is only truly herself with her husband.
John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough and Sarah’s husband, is in his forties with a square jaw, a stocky man of medium height, with his own short

6 grey hair swept back and hidden under a brown periwig, the tight curls falling over his shoulders. We first see him in the bedroom at their residence, wigless, in white shirt and black breeches. At court he wears a scarlet velvet military coat with brass buttons and matching breeches, and a light brown knee-length velvet waistcoat, also with brass buttons, a white stock at his neck and a silver sash across his chest. He has black riding boots, and a silverhandled sword at his waist. A man of action, Churchill lacks the easy persuasiveness of the politicians, but his manner is gentler with Anne than his wife, preferring to cajole rather than dictate.
Sarah and John’s son Jack is 15, stocky like his father but shorter, with curly brown hair. He is boyish and enthusiastic, keen to make his mark in battle.
Returning from hunting,he wears a red coat and scarlet waistcoat, cream silk stock, gold knee breeches and white stockings, a leather falcon sleeve on his left arm.
Anne takes a young cousin of Sarah Churchill’s, Abigail Hill, into service at the court. Seeking a way out of her poor, provincial background, Abigail's soberly dressed, in contrast to the silks and velvets of the other court ladies.
Her thin face is pale and pinched, her blonde hair scraped back into an untidy bun. She wears a grey hooded cloak, a simple pale green velvet gown with a plain shift beneath, a linen cap on her head and a white apron tied around her waist. Later, at court, her dress remains simple; her role is a servant rather than one of the aristocratic ladies in waiting. Abigail's manner is submissive; she's also intelligent and energetic, and her plain speaking, direct wit makes her match for the sophisticated satirists who surround her other cousin, the politician Robert Harley.
The political factions are represented by Whig, Sydney Godolphin, and Tory,
Robert Harley.
The Lord Chancellor, Sydney Godolphin, is a close friend, and supporter of
John Churchill in his ambitions, and attempts to maintain his own influence over Anne. A measured, dignified presence, Godolphin is in his late fifties, tall and heavily built, with a plum-coloured waistcoat under his black and gold

Chancellor’s robes and gold chain of office. His grey wig emphasises the authority of many years experience.
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Robert Harley, Leader of the House of Commons, is another of those seeking to influence Anne. As a Tory, his political views are opposed to those of the Churchills. Softly spoken, and with a soft, brisk tread, Harley moves unobtrusively among the politicians and courtiers. He is short in stature, with a shoulder length blond wig and wire-rimmed spectacles. Harley wears a brown velvet coat and breeches, brown satin waistcoat and white shirt, along with high-heeled brown shoes and flesh-coloured stockings. A lawyer by profession he's trained to keep his emotions hidden, masking his true thoughts and motives with quick, self effacing smiles.
In Harley’s crowded, smoke filled rooms at the Inns of Court, London, he entertains his friends, including writers and political pamphleteers. Arthur
Maynwaring MP is a playwright and pamphleteer, a tall, slim, dark young man in a showy auburn wig, who dons a crudely made naked female bodysuit to impersonate Princess Anne during a performance of a satirical song. The writer Daniel Defoe, small and slender in brown jacket and breeches, and the satirist and journalist Jonathan Swift are also in attendance. Swift is tall and thin, with a brown wig, wearing a black waistcoat and breeches under a long silver-grey silk gown, with white linen clerical preaching bands at his neck. He cultivates a languid air, smoking a long-stemmed clay pipe. His height means that he tends to look down on those around him, reinforcing his supercilious air.
Other characters are two richly dressed, swan necked Ladies of the
Bedchamber, Lady Clarendon and Lady Somerset. The are in almost continuous attendance on Anne, following a few steps behind, or waiting to one side.
Courtier Colonel Masham is young, tall and handsome, with his dark hair tied back in a pigtail. He wears the scarlet uniform of a regular soldier. Sir John
Radcliffe, a stocky well dressed, middle aged man in a black wig, is physician

to Anne. Other parts, including a Groom and Jezebel, an actress, are played by members of the cast.
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[Track 4] Cast and Production credits
Anne, Princess, later Queen is played by Emma Cunliffe, her husband
Prince George of Denmark, by Hywel Morgan.
Anne's brother-in-law, King William III, by Carl Prekopp
Anne's friend, Sarah Churchill, is played by Natascha McElhone.
Her husband, John Churchill, Captain General of the English Forces, by
Robert Cavanah. and their son Jack Churchill, by Elliott Ross.
Abigail Hill, a cousin of Sarah Churchill's, is played by Beth Park
Two rival politicians are:
Sydney Godolphin, Lord Chancellor, played by Richard Hope,
And Robert Harley, Leader of the Commons, by Jonathan Broadbent
Pamphleteers and writers are:
Arthur Maynwaring, MP, played by Jonathan Christie
Daniel Defoe, by Carl Prekopp
And Jonathan Swift, by Tom Turner
At Court, two Ladies of the Bedchamber are:
Lady Clarendon played by Daisy Ashford, and
Lady Somerset, by Anna Tierney
Colonel Masham, an officer attending Prince George, is played by Daniel
Easton
Dr John Radcliffe, physician to Anne, is played by Michael Fenton Stevens

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Other roles; servants, prostitutes and citizens, are played by members of the cast including, Jenny Rainsford and Ragevan Vasan.
The music is performed live by :
Graeme Adams (oboe)
Ivor McGregor (violin)
Clare Spencer-Smith (cello)
Kevin Waterman (percussion)
And John Woolf (harpsichord)
The production was designed by Hannah Clark,
With Lighting Design by Charles Balfour,
Music and Sound by Ben and Max Ringham,
Original songs by Helen Edmundson, and the Director is Natalie Abrahami
That is the end of this audio introduction to Queen Anne. Please note that this introduction was recorded at the beginning of the play’s run. Any changes will be incorporated into the live introduction, which will be delivered 15 minutes before the performance begins.
To request audio introductions to future RSC productions, please call 0844 800
1114 or email access@rsc.org.uk to receive them.