Shakespeare Review: under thunder and glass

June 30, 2023, 10:22 am , by Richard Lutz

RICHARD LUTZ tips his hat to a theatre company that’s been staging open air productions of The Bard every summer for more than two decades

There’s nothing to equal a drama within a drama. Especially live on stage.

When the actor portraying Henry the Fourth in Shakespeare’s eponymous play had an emergency, Stephen Clyde stepped in at the last minute. A quick word from the stage manager gave the Glasgow audience the heads up that the sudden stand in had to read from a script. There was little time to prepare.

The new cast member had to get through royal speeches, the 400 year old histrionics, the physical movement …the bitter reproach of a split between king and prince, a guilt ridden father and a wayward son. He had to succeed.

And he did. Clyde proved himself a real pro and you quickly forgot the actor had the book, with lines highlighted in yellow, in hand.

And that’s even down to his poignant deathbed scene.

All part and parcel for the producers of this summer run of Shakespeare. Its productions are small scale, if not micro-scale, scant on scenery and props and, notably, sometimes better than the high octane stuff of Stratford or London. And it’s definitely prone to Scotland’s tricky weather. Watching plays by the theatre company Bard in the Botanics, I’ve taken in tragedies bathed in twilight, history in howling wind and comedies in downpours.

And that’s Shakespeare for you this Glasgow summer. And every summer for the past quarter of a century. Each season, the troupe puts on productions either on its miniscule outdoor stage tucked in a corner of The Botanical Gardens or in the nearby Victorian glasshouse- a 150 year old edifice, in fact, where Stephen Clyde did so well.

This year, alongside Henry the Fourth, it’s also presenting Julius Caesar on its open air stage. The night I went, thunder threatened, rain came and went and the cast of thirteen gave the al fresco audience -wrapped in waterproofs and capped with umbrellas- roaring mobs, murderous riots, warring armies and a clutch of assassins.

James Boal (above) offered a dominating portrait of Caesar as both raging dictator and a contemplative ghost. Claire Macallister undertook a gender switching role as Cassia (aka Cassius) and made it the conscious spine of the production. The ending had a tweaky visual twist too when…well, I’ll let you see the play for yourself.

As for the Henry the Fourth, it’s all about re-working the two part history into a single production, a play best remembered for its rebellious Prince Hal and…..

…yes, as above, his lowlife drinking partner Falstaff. Alan Steele stole the show as the roistering fraud, eyeing up the ladies in the audience, steaming up the glass overhead and living the role of a rumpled drunk. You could smell the stale beer off his breath and round mass.

Sam Stopford handled Hal with aplomb transforming from an empty headed barfly to a young king who must abandon Falstaff in order to rule. It was dramatic stuff. Not only for an actor with script in hand, but also for its powerful language, the mixture of history and family affairs and that loud boozy humour.

Later this summer, the company leaves Shakespeare behind for Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic tale of Jekyll and Hyde. The whole season lasts until 29th July.

Tickets: www.bardinthebotanics.co.uk

**Picture credits: Bard in the Botanics