Anna Burnside reviews ‘a delightful reminder that Shakespeare should be a great night out’.
Gordon Barr, Bard in the Botanics’ long-time creative powerhouse, also directs pantomimes, bringing something of the he’s-behind-you in this jolly version of a BITB perennial.
The nooks and crannies of the plot are ignored in favour of comedic set pieces and crowd work. There are broad Glaswegian asides. In place of specific geographical gags, Star Pender’s Helena stomps on stage carrying a bottle of Buckfast.
After a baggy start, it works well. Alan Steele - a veteran of Barr’s pantos as well as the Botanic Gardens stage - is a delicious Bottom. The sequence in which he demands to play every role in the play-within-a-play is, basically, Steele karaoke.
Young Benjamin Keachie’s Puck is the audience’s pal, stomping through the camping chairs, causing gentle havoc while the rest of the cast change their costumes.
Bailey Newsome shows real comic chops as the head of the Rude Mechanicals and Peaseblossom. When an audience member has to lend him their phone, his line “Unlock your calendar I beseech you” gets one of the biggest laughs of the night.
There is much to delight. James Boal’s posturing Oberon in a magnificent prog rock costume, complete with cape. Newsome in an Amazon wig with a diaphanous nightie over his carpenter costume. Steele’s range of hee-haws. Pender’s facial harrumphs, which reach beyond the back of the audience to Great Western Road.
It’s a delightful reminder that Shakespeare should be a great night out.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream performs at Bard in the Botanics at the Botanic Gardens of Glasgow until July 12, 2025. For further details (and weather reports), go to their website.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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