James V: KATHERINE was directed by Orla O’Loughlin, and is based on real historical figures early in the reign of King James V. In Spring 2024 James V: Katherine surprises and delighted audiences touring Scotland from the Highlands to the Borders, following the world premiere at Capital Theatres’ The Studio in Edinburgh.

A Raw Material and Capital Theatres co-production, James V: Katherine continued the theatrical series with the vivid historical storytelling of the previous instalments, set during the reigns of Scotland’s generations of Stewart kings. James V: Katherine places a lesser-known female historical figure front and centre in the story, with an intimate and up-close performance with focussed, raw and beautiful storytelling, directed by Orla O’Loughlin (What Girls Are Made Of / Mouthpiece).

Katherine Hamilton is nineteen. She‘s a respectable young married woman, but she also has a secret love she’s trying to forget. When her brother, Patrick, is executed for preaching ideas forbidden by the church, Katherine is also put on trial for her life.

In a packed courtroom, watched by most of Edinburgh and the cynical, young King James V, Katherine fights for survival, using her intelligence and wit.

This play is based on real historical figures and is a dramatic interpretation of key events at the very start of the Scottish Reformation, events that did happen and did change Scotland forever. It is also a love story.