'Jeust twa folk ken': adapting and performing The Seven sages of Scotland

This paper reflects upon the research and development of two performances of The Seven sages of Scotland, based on the late medieval Scottish Buke of the Sevyne Sagis, to consider the process, impact, and outcome of creative adaptations of medieval material. These performances took place in the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh in July 2023, and in the Byre Theatre in St Andrews in September 2024. Each performer adapted a discrete portion of the text: either the frame story of the empress who falsely accuses her stepson of attempted rape, or the embedded tales of the storytelling contest that ensues to determine the prince’s guilt or innocence. The resulting performances utilised a range of narrative styles, Scots dialects, and interpretive strategies – all while encouraging reflection and critical assessment in the audience about questions of bias and hearsay. By thinking through critical adaptation theory and reflecting on the methodologies employed by Daisy Black’s storytelling workshops as part of the adaptive development process, this article explores how medieval narratives with misogynist, violent or discriminatory elements – like The Seven sages – may be responsibly retold. Drawing upon audience response surveys and follow-up interviews with the performers, we then consider the impact of such adaptations upon general audiences, upon medievalists, and upon performance artists and storytellers. What performances like The Seven sages of Scotland ultimately reveal is the important role creative-critical medievalism may play in both the public-facing aspect of medieval studies, as well as in our understanding of the affective nuances and contemporary resonances of medieval narratives.