A new production company, The Goat, scheduled a whole three weeks' of summer outdoor theatre all around the wonderful topic of William Shakespeare. The festival was due to take place in the "ampitheatre" located outisde The Great Northern Warehouse on Manchester's Peter Street. However, our wonderfully predictable British weather showed no signs of sun, and so for this particular production, Will And Co's "Bard In The Yard", the chaps at Manchester's newest Fringe theatre venue; the recently (re-)opened all-new 53Two, only a few doors away from the Great Northern Warehouse, came to the rescue.
'Bard In The Yard' is a one-man show, and runs for one hour without interval. Written as a response to our county's theatre closures, this play is excellently written. The parallels between Shakespeare's time and ours being explored with humour. However some of the 'facts' had been somewhat tampered with in order to make it a better narrative. However this did not matter; it was a jolly good story, the premise of which was that we (the audience) had gathered together in order to help William Shakespeare write his next masterpiece, which we soon realised was to be 'Macbeth'.
Our William Shakespeare for this hour-long comedy was the delighfully-named Christopher Commander. From his very first entrance (throught the audience) he was able to interact with a rather shy and retiring audience (well, we ARE British!), which sadly numbered only about 30 or maybe even less. Commander had his work cut out, but it didn't faze him, and by the end we were all happily clapping along to the final jig with smiles on our faces.
Our William Shakespeare for this hour-long comedy was the delighfully-named Christopher Commander. From his very first entrance (throught the audience) he was able to interact with a rather shy and retiring audience (well, we ARE British!), which sadly numbered only about 30 or maybe even less. Commander had his work cut out, but it didn't faze him, and by the end we were all happily clapping along to the final jig with smiles on our faces.
Yes, the show is very reliant on audience reaction and participation, but there are also moments of real sadness and sincerity which were handled excellently juxtaposing the merriment in between well. There was a lot of Shakespeare references, quotes, misquotes, etc - but one would expect this from a show whose protagonist is William Shakespeare himself!
The young Commander has a great career ahead of him if he continues to deliver such performances. His characterisations were all well placed and consistent, his bonhomie pitched just right, and showed great sensitivity in the quieter scenes.
The show is ideal for touring to all manner of smaller venues, and if something wicked (modern urban usage) your way comes, I can heartily recommend it! As one of the lines from the show proclaims, "Stories want to be told!"
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 7.8.21
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