20 Years in 20 Weeks - Looking back to Bard in the Botanics 2018
/20 YEARS IN 20 WEEKS
Love is in the air for this week’s “20 Years in 20 Weeks” as we look back to 2018 and our Star-Cross’d Lovers” Season.
We might have been heading towards a summer of love, but war, chaos & destruction were more the order of the day for our first shows of the year. We returned to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to co-produce the MA Classical & Contemporary Text Shakespeare productions. This year, Bard’s Artistic Director, Gordon Barr, took on the wild & bloody revenge tragedy, “Titus Andronicus”, while Head of the course (and regular Bard fight director) Marc Silberschatz directed “Henry V”.
“Henry V” at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
The summer season saw events take a more romantic turn, with four productions that each featured an iconic pair of lovers at the heart of their story.
The season opened with perhaps the most iconic pair of lovers ever to grace the stage – “Romeo and Juliet”, directed for the first time by Associate Director, Jennifer Dick. This vibrant, modern-dress production played out against a vivid graffiti backdrop and was led by Rebecca Robin & Dylan Blore in the title roles. Both Rebecca & Dylan had first appeared with the company in 2017’s “Timon of Athens”, as part of our Emerging Artist Acting Placement Scheme. It was wonderful to see them return and grow as actors to take on leading roles in “Romeo & Juliet”. Bard’s commitment to gender parity continued in this production in Esme Bayley’s Mercutio, Emilie Patry’s Lady Capulet (taking on a combined version of the original’s Lord & Lady Capulet), Anna Carley’s Benvolio & Linda Duncan McLaughlin’s Reverend Laurence. Meanwhile, Juliet’s Nurse became her friend, Angel, hilariously & touchingly played by the magnificent Darren Brownlie.
Dylan Blore & Rebecca Robin as the title roles in “Romeo & Juliet” (2018)
Young love between Romeo & Juliet on the mainstage was contrasted against the mature love at the heart of our Kibble Palace season opener – “Antony & Cleopatra” – and audiences could decide which pair of lovers actually behaved in a more grown-up fashion! Nicole Cooper took on the role of the Egyptian queen while renowned Scottish actor, Andy Clark, joined the company for the first time to play Mark Antony. “Antony & Cleopatra” is an unwieldy play, cramming years of history into a slightly confusing structure with one of the largest cast lists in Shakespeare’s canon. Director, Gordon Barr, pared back the play to focus on the central pair and their ultimate conflict with Antony’s ruling partner in Rome, Octavius Caesar (Laurie Scott). He also brought in material from John Dryden’s play, “All For Love” – a Restoration era retelling of the story. This material fleshed out the central pairing (who only actually have 2 short scenes together in the first half of Shakespeare’s play) and some of the supporting characters, especially Leonora Cooke’s Octavia – Antony’s wife who, in this version, actually got to confront the woman who stole her husband in an electrifying scene!
Nicole Cooper & Andy Clark as the title roles in “Antony & Cleopatra” (Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)
While Romeo & Juliet and Antony & Cleopatra might have met untimely ends, the second half of the season kicked off with an ultimately much happier love story and another iconic couple – Benedick & Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing”. Played by Adam Donaldson & Nicole Cooper, this witty, sharp pair are often voted as the public’s favourite Shakespearean couple and it’s not hard to see why as negotiate trickery, tragedy & their own stubborn natures to reach their well-deserved happy ending. Jennifer Dick’s production set the action in a Victorian travelling circus, with Leonata’s household the staff & acts of the circus. Colourful costumes, hilarious comedy and fantastic chemistry between the leading characters combined to make a genuine summer treat for audiences.
Our final production of the season was Christopher Marlowe’s “Edward II” – the tragic tale of a vain & impetuous ruler, brought down by his all-consuming passion for his male lover, Gaveston. It was a privilege to include this lesser-known but no less iconic couple in the 2019 line-up – possibly the first openly gay relationship written for the English stage. Director, Gordon Barr, adapted Marlowe’s play for just four characters – Laurie Scott & Charlie Clee brought passion, intimacy & real heartbreak to the story of Edward & Gaveston, with Esme Bayley providing touching support in the complex role of Isabella, Edward’s spurned queen, and Andy Clark’s Mortimer vividly representing the establishment determined to destroy the pair. Set in the 1950’s, before the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the production ended with the ghosts of Edward & Gaveston tenderly dancing to the strains of Doris Day’s anthem, “Secret Love”, accompanied by footage from key moments in LGBTQ history – from Harvey Milk to Section 28 to Nicola Sturgeon’s parliamentary apology to the gay men convicted & prosecuted for the simple act of loving another person.
Laurie Scott as King Edward & Charlie Clee as Gaveston in “Edward II” (Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)
While romantic love was the overarching theme of 2018’s summer season, our annual panto at the Byre Theatre – “Sleeping Beauty” – was, perhaps, one of the only pantos ever to see its heroine, Princess Bonnie (Kirsty Findlay), have no romantic love interest. Instead her relationship with her mother, Queen Nessie (Nicole Cooper), took centre stage – in fact, the Queen became the sleeping beauty of the title in an unexpected twist to the tale – and family became the heart of the story in a refreshing new take on the traditional fairytale.
“Sleeping Beauty” at the Byre Theatre (Photo credit: Viktoria Begg)
A glorious summer of sunshine & shows and a number of highly successful co-productions made 2018 a real highlight in Bard in the Botanics’ history.
FUN FACTS:
- Gordon Barr loves his costumes & continued to challenge designer, Carys Hobbs, on “Titus Andronicus” at RCS which featured more than 60 individual costumes – from military uniforms to ballgowns to hunting clothes and even the personifications of “Revenge, Rape & Murder”!
- “Titus Andronicus” is Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy – 12 characters have met a grisly end by the story’s conclusion, including stabbings, beheadings, a ritual sacrifice and, most disturbingly, two characters are baked into a pie and fed to their own mother! Thank goodness we had a brilliant Fight Director on hand in the form of RCS Head of Course, Marc Silberschatz, who is an incredibly kind & gentle human being but viciously twisted when it comes to inventing onstage deaths!
- We were delighted to co-produce Marc Silberschatz’s production of “Henry V” at RCS, which featured 3 BSL (British Sign Language) interpreters fully embedded into the production as part of the acting company. It was an innovative step forward in how access & inclusion for audiences can be tackled creatively in theatre and we hope to continue & develop that work in future years at Bard in the Botanics.
- In “Romeo & Juliet”, the Nurse declares that the recently slain Tybalt was “the best friend I ever had” – a strange statement when they literally share no stage time or dialogue in the play! In Jennifer Dick’s production, Angel (this production’s version of the Nurse) was in a relationship with Michael Lorsong’s Tybalt, making sense of this line for one of the first times ever and creating complex layers for the character, beautifully realised by Darren Brownlie.
- 2018 was one of the most gloriously hot summers in recent memory, which gave Antony & Cleopatra an appropriately Mediterranean heat in the Kibble Palace. But as temperatures continued to soar, we ended up having to hand out water to the audience, with free programmes to use as fans to prevent anyone overheating!
- The heatwave helped “Romeo & Juliet” break a Bard in the Botanics record – it is our only outdoor production never to have had a single performance cancelled because of rain!
- Actor, Nicole Cooper, was born and raised in Zambia and is of both Greek & African heritage – just like Cleopatra. She was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to play a character whose heritage matched her own.
- When “Much Ado About Nothing” headed out on tour after its run at the Botanic Gardens, Nicole Cooper was unavailable to continue in her role as Beatrice – giving us a welcome chance to bring Associate Director, Jennifer Dick, back to the stage to take over the role. It was her first time performing in a show that she had also directed – and she was, predictably, brilliant in the part.
- “Sleeping Beauty” featured our most complex musical number ever staged in a panto – a “time-travelling” medley which saw the characters travel 100 years from the Victorian age to the modern era through the medium of song and dance (what? It’s a panto – it doesn’t have to make sense!). The medley comprised of 10 songs representing each decade of the past 100 years and featured 10 quick changes – all within 4 minutes! Carefully choreographed madness best describes the backstage activity during this one!
2018 COMPANY:
Bard in the Botanics 2018: The Star-Cross’d Lovers Season
Gordon Barr (Artistic Director); Esme Bayley (Mercutio / Queen Isabella); Dylan Blore (Romeo / Claudio); Darren Brownlie (Angel / Don John & Dogberry); Jack Brownridge-Kelly (Paris); Anna Carley (Benvolio); Andy Clark (Mark Antony / Mortimer); Charlie Clee (Gaveston); Emma Clifton (Deputy Wardrobe Supervisor); Leonora Cooke (Octavia); Nicole Cooper (Cleopatra / Beatrice); Heather Currie (Trainee Design Assistant); Jennifer Dick (Director – R&J / Much Ado); Adam Donaldson (Enobarbus / Benedick); Lizzie Forman (Charmian); Suzie Goldberg (DSM); Emma Harley (DSM – Kibble Palace); Carys Hobbs (Season Designer); Derek Jeck (Prince Escalus); Alison Kertz (Lepidus & Eros); Michael Lorsong (Tybalt); Claire Macallister (Agrippa); Stephanie McGregor (Choreographer); Linda Duncan McLaughlin (Rev Laurence / Leonata); Laura O’Connor (Wardrobe Supervisor); Hannah Parker (Hero & Georgia Seacole); Emilie Patry (Lady Capulet / Don Pedro); Sam Ramsay (Festival Manager); Rebecca Robin (Juliet / Margaret & Verges); Laurie Scott (Octavius / Edward II); Edward Soper (Borachio); John Spilsbury (Montague); John Winchester (Fight Director)
“Sleeping Beauty” Company: Stephen Arden (Raven La Corbie; Choreographer); Gordon Barr (Writer & Director); Rory Beaton (Lighting Design); Samantha Burt (DSM); Nicole Cooper (Queen Nessie McTeuchter); Heather Currie (Wardrobe Assistant); Kirsty Findlay (Princess Bonnie); Ashley Foster (Young Cast Liaison); Carys Hobbs (Designer); Stephanie McGregor (Minnie McMinxster); Sarah Michael (Wardrobe Supervisor); Samuel Pashby (Prince Hamish); Siobhan Randle (Wardrobe Assistant); Stephen Roberts (Composer & Musical Director); Alan Steele (Fairy Mary Doll); Sam Ramsay (Stage Manager)
