A Queen’s Way
★★☆☆☆ Awkward
Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236): Mon 24 – Sat 29 Aug 2026
Review by Rebecca Mahar
Napier University Drama Society presents a limited run of Madilyne Nelsen’s new play A Queen’s Way, a medieval satire that never quite finds its footing.
In a medieval kingdom “built on murder, thievery and chaos,” the teenage Karalyne (Maisie Lumgair), a peasant who lives in the woods with her brother Todlair (a play on toddler, though he declares himself to be eleven years old; played by James Galloway), finds herself catapulted onto the throne after accidentally killing the current king, Rodrick (Euan Raynal).
A scene from A Queens Way. Pic NUDS.
Co-directed by Nelsen with Sula McDonald, A Queen’s Way is billed as a satire, but doesn’t effectively make a commentary on anything in particular,
Rather, it sits somewhere between farce and pantomime without fully giving in to either as Raemynd, Rodrick’s younger sister by six minutes, played by Callum Cook, plots to murder Karalyne so that she can take the throne, rather than spending the rest of her life in the dungeons with all the previously deposed royal families.
Variously aided and abetted by Esky the Esquire (Kai Bryan) and Lord Mavariel/Witch of the Woods Wilma (Lewis Hayward), Karalyne and Raemynd work towards their respective ends until it all turns out happily ever after (depending on who you ask).
inconsistencies
Bereft of genre, the play stumbles through its plot awkwardly, and is subject to inconsistencies such as video game references; Lisbon being a country for some reason (there’s no indication that the show takes place during the brief 11th century Taifa of Lisbon period, but then again, there’s no indication that it doesn’t); and Todlair occasionally directly addressing the audience and being able to communicate to other characters in their minds and exhibiting general omniscience.
A Queens Way. Pic NUDS.
Todlair is also the chief instigator of panto-like shenanigans, with Galloway encouraging the audience to respond to him; and he is joined in this plane by the dramatic over-acting of Raynal as Rodrick.
Outside of Rodrick’s drama, however, the performances of the company generally feel more like recitation than acting and reacting, with canned responses and extensive use of pauses in illogical places. Bryan’s Esky does do a good line in dry wit as the long-suffering servant, demonstrating a sharp sense of comic timing.
good use
Nelson and McDonald’s direction makes good use of the diminutive Ivy Studio, with scenes transitioning logically from one to the next, though the timing of these transitions could certainly be tightened up to alleviate the choppiness of flow that currently besets the piece. This lack of urgency carries over to the plot which, while it moves through murders and mayhem, lacks arc and purpose.
A Queen’s Way purports to question the value of power, but fails to centre itself – to the degree that the only real question it poses is why Raemynd didn’t just murder Rodrick in his sleep before the play began.
Running time: 55 minutes (no interval).
Greenside @ George Street (Ivy Studio,), 22-26 George St EH2 2PQ (Venue 236).
Monday 24 – Saturday 29 August 2026.
Daily: 6.40pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Facebook: @napierNUDS
Instagram: @napiernuds
Linktree: @napiernuds.
A Queens Way. Pic NUDS.
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