I am in the final few days of rehearsal at Bard In The Botanics for The Merchant of Venice in which I am playing Launcelot Gobbo and Salerio! I’m having a great time working on my first professional production and having my first experience of outdoor theatre. Filling the space is a challenge, it’s massive after all. Not a little theatre but a park, and making sure everyone can hear is a top priority. Then there’s Shakespeare and his language to get to grips with, and for your mouth around. After all, he’s the King of incredibly wordy sentences. But it’s an exciting challenge and I’m loving working on it with all my fellow actors. It opens on Thursday, and is directed by Gordon Barr, the Artistic Director of the Bard in The Botanics.
For more information, see: bardinthebotanics.co.uk

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A truly wonderful professional production that really brought Shakespeare writing to life. Wish I could have seen this when I was studying the play at secondary school. I would have understood it so much more.
Hi Judy. I’m glad you enjoyed the production. A good production of Shakespeare always brings out the story in ways I never thought it would – particularly when studying the text at school. There’s such a difference between simply words on a page (although with Shakespeare those words carry a certain amount of gravitas) and a set, actors, lines and the stage.