Shay Mace
There are far few greater settings for a play about Mary, Queen of Scots, than Riddles Court, just off of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. And that’s where Shooting Fish Theatre Company will be bringing their upcoming biographical piece The Spy Network, which explores the final moments of the Queen’s life spent with an enigmatic actor, Barnaby Fulke, sent to entertain her before the chop.
We caught up with Artistic Director Emily Bignell for a pixelated pint to find out how the show went from working with disadvantaged young people in Lincolnshire through to being performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month.
You can catch The Spy Network at the Thistle Theatre at Greenside @ Riddles Court on August 17th – 29th (not the 23rd) from 13:50 (50mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Emily, tell us about The Spy Network and why you have decided to bring this to the stage now?
Emily: The Spy Network was first produced in 2025, it was developed as part of one of our community projects and had a short preview to celebrate the contributions of those who had taken part. We knew then that it was a special piece of work, the actors we worked with were incredible and our audiences loved it. We knew instantly that it deserved a wider platform and larger audiences, Edinburgh Fringe seemed a logical next step for the work as it’s main protagonist is Mary, Queen of Scots – for us the idea of performing the play in Edinburgh which played such an important part of her life was a no-brainer.
The Spy Network is set the night before Mary’s execution for treason, she enters the great hall in Fotheringhay Castle in the middle of the night to contemplate what is to come, here she encounters Barnaby Fulke, an actor preparing to entertain the onlookers before the chop. It is well documented that Mary herself enjoyed performing and would often take part in plays with her maids (four women also called Mary!).
It therefore wasn’t too much of a stretch for us to enable the circumstances to entice her into a re-enactment of the events that lead to her downfall. So therein begins a play within a play. Mary alongside the visiting actors seizes the opportunity to tell her story, as she sees it.
The story certainly is fascinating, we had no idea when we started our journey about the spy network that was utilised to incriminate her, the enciphered letters or lengths to which the crown went to ensure her execution. The production is very playful, three actors play a multitude of characters from Mary’s life, there are moments of despair, of hope, of violence but also some lovely flashes of comedy to balance the drama.
Shay: How has the creative process been of putting the show together? Give us an idea of the journey you’ve been on with it so far.
Emily: Our show began in quite a special way. As a company we have a strong focus on co-production and this play began life as part of one of our literacy projects. In 2024/25 we worked with disadvantaged young people aged 16 to 18 living in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. This is an extremely deprived area and the young people we work with have very little opportunity to participate in the arts. Lots have really struggled at school, have mental health difficulties and/or turbulent home lives. We work with young people and professional theatre makers over 8 months to co-write and co-produce a new play that is then performed by professional actors and staged at the local theatre.
The project is designed to build literacy, soft skills and confidence for participants, but I think the best thing about it is that gives them a voice. They can make play about absolutely anything at all and it happened that year that we had one young person who had an insatiable interest in history and he proposed to the rest of the group that the play should be about Mary, Queen of Scots, he was so passionate that the rest of the group really got on board. With this subject matter research is crucial, the professional team the young people consumed a wealth of information, I always say that our writer Neil Edwards must be the worlds leading expert on this subject matter his research was so extensive and meticulous.
Research didn’t just stop at story and characters, the language characters used had to be considered as did the props, set and costume, we’ve all learnt a lot about Elizabethan fashion. Preparing for the Fringe has also been a journey, we’ve had to work painstakingly to reduce a play which was 1hr 20 down to just 50 minutes. We’re just about there now and thankfully it still feels like the same play!
Shay: What will be the first thing the audience sees, feels, and hears as they enter the space?
Emily: We have a marvellous sound designer called Cameron Naylor who worked on the original production. As we have such limited tech for lights, music will be extremely important to set the mood and tone for our audiences, Cameron’s composition will transport them back in time and into Mary’s head, helping us to engage immediately with her state of mind. As the play begins audiences will feel a sense of anticipation, foreboding and reflection, there are much lighter moments in the main body of the play, but the opening certainly mirrors the inevitable fate that will arrive at the end.
Our set is minimal (as is necessary for the Fringe) but we have a number of carefully chosen items to help us connect with the historical context. We have spent a lot of time and money to ensure our costumes are right, this will be a real treat for audiences, it’s always a lovely part of going to see period drama and we’ve been very careful with our selections, there are some wonderful costume pieces in the show.
Shay: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Emily: I hope audiences will take away a new and refreshed understanding of what is an important part of Scottish and English history, it is quite probable that if these events hadn’t occurred then England would have had Mary upon the throne and seen a return to Catholicism. I also think it’s important for audiences to know about the fascinating and sophisticated ways in which spy operations were managed during this historical period.
During development sessions there was lots of discussion in around history and its authenticity – what sources are reliable? From whose perspective is the information being presented? Given the historical context (the methods of recording and relaying information) how reliable is it? This was an element we were really able to play with, both the professional team and the young people enjoyed examining the evidence, unearthing and speculating on the information gaps and navigating our story around them. It’s allowed us to play with the story, adding our own twists but always staying within the realms of possibility given the records of events from the time.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Emily: I am very excited to be amongst the buzz of the festival, it’s such a wonderful time to be in Edinburgh the whole city feels alive with creative energy, I can’t wait t be part of that. I’m also really looking forward to testing our work on new audiences, it will be wonderful to see how it is received. Our hope is to tour the work nationally further down the line, so this will be a wonderful learning for us to understand how audience experience the work and to adapt and mould it accordingly for future iterations.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Emily: Well – as you will find out if you come to see the play a beer barrel plays an important role in the story. Reportedly Queen Elizabeth I’s household drank up to 600,000 gallons of ale annually. It therefore has to be a traditional ale, spiced and warmed in a pewter vessel; A drink and a play to be enjoyed by all, but with a little added luxury for those with outstanding royal taste.
A reminder, you can catch The Spy Network at the Thistle Theatre at Greenside @ Riddles Court on August 17th – 29th (not the 23rd) from 13:50 (50mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
