Director’s Note: Priscilla Jackman, THE QUEEN’S NANNY

When Melanie first told me about Crawfie’s story – a woman who lived in the same town as her own Scottish family, who mixed and worked amongst Melanie’s own extended family and friends, after being ousted by the royals – I was surprised it was the first I’d heard of Marion Crawford. In a contemporary world, which seems obsessed with mining all details of royal life for artistic and celebrity click bait, I was shocked Crawfie’s story was not more widely known.

However, in reading the first draft of Melanie’s beautiful lyrical text, I was instantly moved by the bold form she explores – resisting any depiction of ‘The Crown-esque’ characterisation – to create a taut, playful, yet deeply affecting commentary on power, authorship, motherhood and loyalty.

THE QUEEN’S NANNY is a play that speaks directly to our Australian audiences, interrogating, through the fallen figure of Crawfie, wider questions around our position culturally and politically within the British Commonwealth. Through Crawfie, we are invited into conversations about who is entitled to tell whose story, and how stories handed down through history are shaped by the powerful. Melanie invites us to reflect on the voiceless women who have raised some of the world’s finest leaders and shines a spotlight on the complexities of the roles of the ‘surrogate mother’ and the loyal subject.

With all of Melanie’s characteristic charm, the playful humour and deft dialogue of THE QUEEN’S NANNY and its unequivocal celebration of theatricality, invites us to enjoy a delightful night at the theatre, while raising some rueful provocations around choice, autonomy and the manipulation of the stories we tell ourselves through our shared history.

Priscilla Jackman

Playing 6 Sep – 12 Oct, don’t miss THE QUEEN’S NANNY by Melanie Tait!