In 'Mary Queen Of Scots,' 2 Queens Become Pawns In A Struggle For Supremacy

At my all-girls high school in England, history class was basically an ongoing roster of uncivil wars between the Tudors (English) and Stuarts (Scottish) over who would be king of which scept'red British isle. So I knew from bickering royals, though invariably it was all about the men, mostly rascally Henry VIII and his disposable wives, fondly known to us girls as Divorced-Beheaded-Died-Divorced-Beheaded-Survived. Either I was napping at my desk or century's spiciest royal war — the knock-down battle for sovereignty over the English and Scottish thrones between Henry's extremely durable daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. In a roaring new drama from British theater director Josie Rourke, both come to us red in tooth, claw, and, in keeping with their genetic lineage, hair.