The Virgin Trial

The second part of Kate Hennig's powerful Queenmaker Trilogy, retelling the stories of three Tudor queens of England, in contemporary settings. Fifteen-year-old Bess has no idea when she heads to London to see her Uncle Ted that she is about to find herself at the heart of a scandal involving sexual impropriety and an attempted overthrow of the government. What does all this have to do with her? How adroitly can Bess manoeuvre through a series of interviews to avoid being swept up in the peril that might ensue? And will she be able to spin the facts to create a myth based on her own innocence? Kate Hennig's play The Virgin Trial was first staged at Stratford Festival, Ontario, in 2017. It won the 2017 Carol Bolt Award for Best New Play.