I sat down with writer Malcolm Roding to find out more about Empress Bloody Mary coming to the Water Rats Theatre this December.

Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?

It’s a solo play featuring a future Queen who dives deep into her past. We’re transported to this extraordinary world, which we learn about purely from the sumptuously dressed Empress on her throne. There’s a whole science fiction action universe mixed with memories of past lives.

And it’s all told purely from her perspective, we see and hear her commanding armies into battle, dealing with grief and losing everything, persevering through it all – yet because there’s deliberately no outside point of view, it’s also a psychological drama exploring this woman’s perception of reality.

I don’t think a solo show quite like this has been done.

What drew you to this specific story?

I’ve always been fascinated with both the Tudors and space travel, so when planning my next show I wanted a way to put them together. The Tudor dynasty is a wild soap opera of lust, betrayal, zealotry and trauma – mix that together with a realized future galaxy and you’ve got something fascinatingly familiar yet new.

I wanted to write a Queen because I love strong yet deeply emotional female leads. The historical Mary in particular is a fascinatingly damaged, cruel, yet sympathetic figure. So why not resurrect her many thousands of years into the future?

What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?

By far the hardest part was deciding who to cast. There were lots of great self-tapes, I’m pleased to report Britain still produces top acting talent. But our Empress Mary, Josée Bekker, brings immeasurably powerful feeling to the role. She’s really made it her own.

While the idea and actual words are things I wrote, the way she makes it alive is entirely hers. I’m moved and affected every scene I watch her rehearse.

How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?

We have a beautiful costume and tall, commanding throne designed by the final heroine of the play – costume designer Tori Hitchens. When you come in you’ll see the throne lit up in the darkness. Then the Empress appears. It’s as if the endless black of deep space becomes lit up with her presence.

If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?

Near the end, she says how the Empress is not an Empress because of any outer frivolities but her own adamantine spirit. And that perhaps sums her and the show up.

She’s fighting a war, she’s losing everything, but her total confidence shines through it all.

Empress Bloody Mary runs at the Water Rats Theatre, London, on 6 December. Tickets available at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/andromedatheatrelimited/2451532