The Rubbish Shakespeare Company are a children’s and family-friendly theatre company, founded by three Liverpool John Moore’s University graduates in 2007. Their mission is to make Shakespeare for all. Their goal: for the Bard’s work to be accessible to everyone, regardless of background and to prove to those who’ve had negative formative experiences with Shakespeare, that it is not, in fact, rubbish!
Ordsall Hall is a wonderful venue for open air theatre productions as it is an Elizabethan black and white half-timbered manor-house dating back over 600 years. However, what makes this historic house so unique is that it sits amidst the sprawling urbanisation of Salford’s housing and ever growing high rises. The productions here are housed on the lawn of the hall, beside suburban housing and the occasional dog walker or child can usually be seen, stopping to peer through the fences to catch a piece of the entertainment for themselves. . .and who would blame them?! Ordsall Hall is an ideal venue for Shakespeare’s plays to be staged and this warm Sunday was a perfect afternoon out for families, couples and friends, young and old.
I’m lucky enough to have watched a lot of Shakespeare’s plays in my time and am no stranger to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The story is one which I love because of its light-hearted warmth and good natured characters which interweave a plot of love across classes and worlds (both mythical and real). But with this production, I just had one simple question to answer, can this story be translated into a piece of children’s theatre? Quite simply, the answer is a resounding yes. I brought my eleven year old daughter to watch and questioned her about the show afterwards. Her opinion was that some moments were ‘a bit young’ for her level of maturity but that it was mostly a great show which she understood and was entertained by. . .praise indeed!
From an adult’s perspective, I loved the show. It told the (often difficult to follow) story with ease and at quite a maniacal pace. With only four performers, the ridiculous costume changes and silly props maintained a wonderful sense of fun and I’m a firm believer that when you take the kids to see a show, you can tell if it’s good or not purely by watching their expressions. These performers had their young audience eating out of the palms of their hands. There were giggles galore and invitations onstage to fire water pistols at the actors and poke fun at the silly adults at getting cues wrong. The comic timing of these four performers and the energetic fun they were having was infectious, not dissimilar to the farce created by The Noise Next Door kids’ shows. However, to be able to apply this to Shakespeare was such a breath of fresh air.
The four skilled performers didn’t disappoint with their acting prowess either. Lee Hithersay, Mark Lea, Thomas Galashan and Alex MacDonald all boast the powerful projection and diction of the Royal Shakespeare Company but with the wicked, naughtiness of pantomime performers. Favourite moments have to be Oberon’s roller boots, which had me in pain with laughter, Lee Hithersay’s toga gags and the ridiculously bad rapping. This production was truly brilliant ‘Rubbish Shakespeare’!
In this new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Rubbish Shakespeare Company have done William Shakespeare proud! It is energetic, funny and most of all hugely entertaining for all the family from babies to great-grand parents. One suspects that their raucous antics are exactly in keeping with The Bard’s intentions. The company finish their tour of this show at the Edinburgh Festival with a full run for the entire month at the Pleasance Underneath. If you are looking to introduce your little ones to the Bard or to convince your teens that Shakespeare isn’t as dull as school has made it, get yourself down there, I promise they won’t disappoint.
Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 21/7/19
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