“If we’re talking about going against the grain with ideas and how this woman is represented, I am looking forward to getting out there and playing a powerful, quiet woman.”
Karen Fishwick knows exactly the sort of cultural baggage she is unpacking. For more than two and a half centuries, Flora MacDonald has been marooned on the lids of shortbread tins, permanently fixed in the popular imagination as the romanticised ferrywoman who spirited Charles Edward Stuart over the sea to Skye. She is, to the severe detriment of her own extraordinary legacy, a supporting character in someone else’s failure. Genesis Theatre Productions intends to rectify this historical myopia.
Making its world premiere at Inverness’s Eden Court on March 20, before a run at Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre, Flora is a large-scale new musical explicitly designed to pull Scotland’s most famous daughter out of the shadows. Fishwick, who shares the titular role, is deeply analytical about the mechanics of playing a national icon – and that was before the rehearsal room doors had even opened.
“At the moment, before we even start rehearsals, I’m sort of studying women and women in their different roles,” she explains. “The expectations put upon them, how ‘we/society’ want to see them (sometimes quite literally what is put before us on stage) and how that feels in reality. It can be exhausting and infuriating and powerful and wild.”
Her approach is methodical, leaning away from grand theatrical gestures in favour of grounded psychology. “If I can keep that truthful reality as a core feeling – even if it’s just my own feeling – and then begin to add layers, hopefully this character will grow! I’ll look for clues in text, in relationships, in music and movement.”
Beyond the Shortbread Tin: The Grit of Jacobite Reality
The reality of MacDonald is entirely removed from the misty-eyed folklore of the Highlands. She was a reluctant participant in the rebellion’s aftermath, eventually braving imprisonment in the Tower of London, widespread famine, and migration to a volatile American continent on the brink of its own bloody revolution.
“I suppose what might feel gritty to me might not to other people!” Fishwick muses, rejecting the standard mud-and-blood aesthetic of Scottish historical drama. “I feel like Flora has been depicted as a flame-haired, Avenger-like hero-lady ready for action. She was certainly a leader, eventually. But she wasn’t preparing for the moment.”
“The expectations put upon them, how ‘we/society’ want to see them (sometimes quite literally what is put before us on stage) and how that feels in reality. It can be exhausting and infuriating and powerful and wild.”
Karen Fishwick
She acknowledges the stylistic expectations of the genre, but pushes back against the obvious tropes. “Even in theatrical terms, bringing a figure into musical form may suggest there will be a big Broadway transformation, but I don’t think that’s what we’re doing here. I think there will be a good mix of staying true to history but also dashing in a fair bit of modern humour and meeting points.”
Engineering a Multi-Decade Narrative
To manage the sheer chronological sprawl of MacDonald’s life, the production deploys two actors to carry the central role. Fishwick is joined by Scottish stage stalwart Annie Grace, who will portray MacDonald in her later years. It is a dual-engine approach to character building that Fishwick clearly relishes.
“I am incredibly excited to work with the amazing Annie Grace. We’ve really only just met, so it will be a relatively short amount of time to create a character together,” she says. “From the week we had to rehearse music, I feel like there is a natural collaboration there and a complete openness to us checking in with each other. There was a moment where we caught ourselves standing in front of a full-length mirror, side by side. We didn’t say much, but I could feel a wee moment of us sort of physically matching each other, just to see who these two Floras might be.”
Fishwick is quick to point out the practical benefits of this shared theatrical burden. “We are playing the same person, but after everything she experiences in her life, by the end of this tale, she has very much changed. I think that could be quite relatable. It’s a brilliant feeling knowing that you have two wells to draw from instead of one, in terms of ideas and research.”
Stasi Schaeffer directs this mammoth undertaking. For a relatively young company like Genesis Theatre Productions, mounting a bilingual, multi-continent historical musical is a serious undertaking. Schaeffer credits the steady hand of producer Michelle McKay, but also points to the sheer luxury of time. In a theatrical climate where new work is often rushed to the stage under the unforgiving pressure of funding cycles, the extended gestation period here has been a distinct advantage.
“Genesis Theatre Productions is a relatively new company. Producer Michelle McKay has been working hard as an independent producer prior and has steadily grown as a producer, and her work reflects that,” Schaeffer explains. “Michelle has been steadily working up to this point… Flora is a big next step, but I would have to say the length of time it has taken, which has given us the time needed to really work the piece and the music, but also has given Genesis the time to prep and be ready for this process.”
The creative team has not been idle during this extended runway. “We have been working on the show for about 5 years now, and we really took the work in stages and didn’t rush anything,” Schaeffer notes. “We layered the script, the music, had two great weeks of development, went back and made adjustments and polished all to the place it is now, which feels very ready for the final preparations and then the audience… One of the most helpful things about it that differs from working on an established piece is that we all know it very well, and that makes the process more immediate and I think more exciting for us.”
With a cast of actor-musicians swirling through a script that spans decades, the danger of narrative collapse is high. Schaeffer relies entirely on Belle Jones’s script to keep the chaos anchored. “It all really comes down to the storytelling. The main narrative of Flora’s story is very clear and is the through line that carries the audience with it. There is a lot of action, locations and adventures along the way, but Flora is at the heart of it all and her finding what it is all about is very clear.”
The production purposefully avoids the trap of cumbersome historical pageant sets. “We have an amazing set designed by Frances Collier, and even though it allows for many locations, it has a steady framework,” Schaeffer says. “That helps ground the story as well. She has allowed us to tell it in multiple locations without constantly changing the set, which really helps to keep the story focused and always moving in a clear way.”
The Young Pretender in the Shadows
If Flora is finally getting her time in the sun, Charles Edward Stuart finds himself firmly relegated to the supporting cast. It takes a specific kind of performer to take on the Bonnie Prince—a man whose historical charisma is only matched by his profound military incompetence and staggering entitlement. Stepping into the tartan is Lawrence Boothman.
“I don’t think Charlie realises for a second that this isn’t his story – as far as he’s concerned, he is always the protagonist!” Boothman laughs. “But that being said, Flora MacDonald can’t help but make an impression on him, which makes for an interesting dynamic between the two of them.”
Boothman must thread the needle between the charm that convinced thousands of highlanders to march to their deaths and the stark reality of the man who left a young woman to face the wrath of the Hanoverian state alone. “Everything starts with the script – and luckily for me, Belle Jones has done a cracking job with it. Charlie is charming, silly, formidable and intelligent on the page – and I’m excited to get it up on its feet, have a play, and see what sticks (and what doesn’t!). So much of an actor’s job is trial and error, and the best characters are full of contradictions.”
He looks to the modern political arena for the emotional architecture of the Prince. “I’ve been thinking about charismatic leaders in this day and age, and it seems to me that the secret to their success is their unwavering self-belief. That seems like a good place to start with Charlie.”
Musically, composers AJ Robertson and John Kielty isolate the Prince from the traditional Scottish soundscape that scores the rest of the production. “For the most part, the score is Scottish folk-inspired (and really beautiful), but AJ and John have given Charlie a distinct musical flavour which sets him apart from the other characters,” Boothman reveals. “He’s from another world – a world of privilege, and a glamour of sorts – and this is reflected in how he sounds. This isn’t a guy who goes for romantic ballads – I think he’s more interested in putting on a show…!”
As for whether Boothman intends to deploy his comic timing (reader, Mr Boothman this in spades) to skewer the Royal ego? “Well, this is news to me – I certainly don’t think of myself as especially funny! But I can say that mine won’t be a wholly solemn, sober version of the Bonnie Prince.”
Authentic Gàidhlig and a Live Folk Soundscape
A vital component of Flora‘s authenticity lies in its linguistic commitment. Rather than treating Gàidhlig as a tokenistic flourish, Jones’s script integrates the language as a fundamental pillar of MacDonald’s world. It is a deliberate theatrical choice that Schaeffer views as essential rather than exclusionary.
“It was always important for us to have Gàidhlig in the show as the language and the culture were very much a part of Flora’s world and the community she came from,” the director states. “Belle Jones has worked with Gàidhlig consultants from very early stages to make sure the language is right in its usage. She has ensured the use of Gàidhlig language and cultural depictions are authentic and has sought guidance on ensuring that the language is correct for that period of time and location – the community on South Uist, where Flora came from. Belle has made great choices about the context and the moments where the language is used, and it is seamless with English in the show.”
For Fishwick, the score itself—delivered by a tight ensemble of actor-musicians including Alan McHugh, Harry Ward, David Rankine, and Lana Pheutan—provides the emotional heavy lifting. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how this develops over rehearsal because what a band of actor-musos we have to bring this music to life. They’re all incredible,” she enthuses. “There are definitely recurring themes of water and boats, travelling and moving, all the way through the show, and they are definitely some of my favourite songs. There is so much drama in a drone!”
As a working actor, Fishwick is clearly itching to get her hands on an instrument. “To my dismay, I’m not sure how much playing I’ll be doing,” she admits, adding with a conspiratorial grin, “although (don’t tell the MD) and I’m quite looking forward to being steeped in the music of the story as we go.”
“Flora is a big next step, but I would have to say the length of time it has taken, which has given us the time needed to really work the piece and the music, but also has given Genesis the time to prep and be ready for this process.”
Stasi Schaeffer
She relies deeply on the visceral impact of the soundscape. “It will be non-stop and surround us as we move through her journey. That will be very cool to hear live. I’ve just been to a bunch of amazing Celtic Connection gigs, the best. Live music, especially trad, just does something bigger than I can comprehend. Maybe sometimes Flora also clocks this, or could it be another element she needs to fight against? There is so much to explore.”
American Revolution and Modern Parallels
The resonance of MacDonald’s story stretches far beyond the Highlands. Her eventual migration to North Carolina places her right in the crucible of the American Revolution. For Schaeffer, an American director working in Scotland, the parallels are impossible to ignore as 2026 marches on.
“Just when you think over 250 years have passed and things have progressed and changed…on examination, things can often be remarkably similar,” Schaeffer observes. “Coming from the US, one aspect of the script that is very interesting to me is Flora’s journey to America at the time when the US was still a colony and most of the settlers were establishing a country. The US is celebrating 250 years in 2026, and it is a very volatile time there right now.”
It is this precise historical pivot—from Jacobite fugitive to American migrant—that makes Flora far more than a parochial history play. “I am so happy this story is being told as it is so relevant in so many aspects of life in the UK, the US and mostly as the story of a women, whose place in Scottish history has never been fully told,” Schaeffer concludes. “It really is a historic tale, which is hugely relevant to Scotland today.”
With its sprawling timeline, dual casting, and strict refusal to give in to the mythology of the Young Pretender, Flora is going to demand much of its cast and its audience. It asks us to look past the romance of a failed rebellion and sit with the grit of female survival. It is an act of theatrical reclamation. Fishwick knows the scale of the task ahead of her, balancing the demands of a national icon with the beating heart of a real woman. She will – hopefully – find the truth somewhere between the history books and the rehearsal room floor.
“It will be interesting to choose when is best to push back against the stereotype of this iconic figure, and when it might actually be useful. That’s the fun of it.”
Featured Image: MH_Flora – artwork provided by production
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