The Last Queen of Scotland

The Last Queen of Scotland is a bold and original new piece of writing by Jaimini Jethwa, commissioned by the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep, and produced by Stellar Quines. In this semi-autobiographical play we follow the journey of an Indian girl living in Dundee who was part of a group of Ugandan-Asians that were forced to flee Uganda in 1972 during an expulsion by Dictator Idi Amin. Years later she is still haunted by what happened to her family and returns to Uganda to confront her past.

MacDonald transports us from a Dundonian council estate to the bustling streets of Kampala through passionate storytelling.

Performed by Rehanna MacDonald and with musical accompaniment by Patricia Panther, we learn about an untold part of Scottish history. It is really wonderful to see a Scottish play performed at the Edinburgh festival and this show is as Scottish as they come, performed in a thick Dundonian accent and using slang words from ‘the D’ like ‘widos’ and ‘minks’. Rehanna MacDonald tells Jethwa’s story through energetic, fast paced monologues. Although proud to be a Dundonian she dreams of her home in Jinja, Uganda and is fixated on her rage against Idi Amin. She mocks his title The Last King of Scotland claiming ‘Wearing a kilt doesn’t make you Scottish’.

This play is so culturally rich with its Scottish, Indian and Ugandan influence and as an audience we learn a little about each culture throughout the piece. MacDonald transports us from a Dundonian council estate to the bustling streets of Kampala through passionate storytelling. It is a political and historical play that explores themes of identity, migration, and diversity, and it represents the ever-changing face of modern Scotland. Some people may find the delivery too fast and struggle to understand some of the dialect but this strong piece of theatre still manages to deliver a powerful message. This is definitely a must see for the seasoned theatre goer.