The dismal history of doomed Lady Jane Grey is very glum: A teenager crowned England’s Queen, decapitated nine days later for treason.
“My Lady Jane,” streaming on Prime Video today, reworks tragedy into silly farce. Adapted from bestselling young adult novels “My Lady Jane” (by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows) offers a hip, funny alternative universe.
“It’s what we didn’t know we needed,” Anna Chancellor who stars as Jane’s formidable mother said in a Zoom interview. “It’s the perfect kind of ridiculousness, one that we all crave a little bit.
“The Tudor period was a rather bleak time,” she added. “It needs a bit of fun. I mean, certainly they weren’t keen on women keeping their heads, right? So it’s like we’re sewing them back on, one stitch at a time.”
One thing contemporary teens are sure to take away 500 years later is women’s total lack of agency, a world when women have no rights about who they will marry.
“We are inspired by the young adult books. But what is so brilliant about this interpretation is that we have aged it up a bit,” said Emily Bader who plays rebellious Jane. “It’s a story that not only appeals to young women but every type of person.
“Well, maybe not the little kids. But it can surprise people. A lot of men enjoy it, which is great. Because you see this genre and assume it’s going to be strictly chick flick (which I love! Don’t get me wrong.) But the show has so much more to it.
“The story is very dynamic. The characters unusual. It’s really escapist fun.”
What’s surprising, unexpected, even dazzling is the wildly crazy and magical transformation of people into bears, owls and falcons.
“Once they do that with the story, then you know that it can go anywhere!” Chancellor enthused. “You can’t second guess what’s going to be happening, now that they’ve taken us into another world.”
“We know this world,” Bader said. “They’re explaining the history of this world and then, bang! That happens. All bets are off.
“Typically these historical stories are about religion or classism. We’ve done a fun twist on it and people like it. For the writers, the conceit is extremely freeing for their imaginations. It is kind of new, isn’t it?”
Within this setting, rebellious Lady Jane just does not want to be married off the way everybody tells her. Yes, they may be titled aristocrats but the family is broke and Chancellor’s Lady Frances Grey is a widow.
“She’s a single mother with three daughters who’s got to sort this out.”
Which echoes a familiar scenario: It’s “Pride and Prejudice” before Jane Austen wrote “Pride and Prejudice.”
“My Lady Jane” streams on Prime Video June 27
