Romeo and Juliet to Summerhall
Bard in the Botanics tour to Capital for first time
First kiss… Scott Fletcher as Romeo and Stephanie McGregor as Juliet. Photo © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
By Thom Dibdin
Glasgow’s acclaimed Bard in the Botanics company is making its first ever foray to the Capital this week, when it brings its five performer production of Romeo and Juliet to Summerhall.
Scott Fletcher, seen on TV in Gary: Tank Commander and at the Traverse in the marvellous A Respectable Woman Takes to Vulgarity joins the company to play Romeo with Stephanie McGregor who was in the NTS production of Glasgow Girls, as Juliet.
According to BitB’s director Gordon Barr: “Romeo and Juliet was one of our most popular productions in 2012, but the wet summer meant that we were forced to cancel many performances. We are therefore delighted to be able to stage a new version of the production and take it on tour this autumn.”
Since its first festival in 2002, Bard in the Botanics has staged over 40 productions of Shakespeare’s work. This summer’s good weather helped improve on last year’s washout, with total audience of over 5,500 seeing the four productions staged by the non-funded company.
Now this new touring production, which has been re-staged for inside spaces, will play at Summerhall’s Old Lab from Tuesday to Thursday this week at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Tuesday at 1.30pm.
Besides McGregor from the original production, Robert Elkin returns as Benvolio with Luke McConnell as Mercutio. New to the companhy is Ross Mann who plays Tybalt. The production is directed by Gordon Barr and designed by Carys Hobbs.
The production tells Shakespeare’s enduring story through the eyes of a younger generation betrayed by their elders and struggling to make sense of their emotions in a world they haven’t created.
Explaining the reason for taking Romeo and Juliet on the road, Barr added: “We know that many people are not able to get to Glasgow to the summer festival so we are now pleased to be able to take one of our productions out on the road with performances in some of Scotland’s newest venues, including Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock and Summerhall in Edinburgh, alongside established theatres in Glasgow, Eastwood and East Kilbride.”
Romeo and Juliet
Summerhall, 1 Summerhall, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL
Tuesday 8 – Thursday 10, 7.30pm, (Tuesday matinee 1.30pm)
Details on the Summerhall website: www.summerhall.co.uk
Bard in the Botanics website: www.bardinthebotanics.co.uk
ENDS
