ART,
Macbeth,
Alice Through The Looking Glass,
A Midsummer Night's Dream, and
As You Like It

Williamson Park, Lancaster
Wednesday 11 to Sunday 15 August 2004

An overview by Michael Nunn

As the Olympic Games began in Athens, so Michael Nunn embarked upon his own trial of endurance …

"I'm going to review all five shows on at Williamson Park next week,' I told my editor. "You must be mad,' she retorted. And she is so often right …

But this was a golden opportunity not to be missed, I thought and, though I say it again, there are not many single venues in this country (excepting perhaps Stratford) where you can see five different plays on consecutive nights. Don't forget that this came fast on the heels of The Dukes' Canterbury Tales, whose run had only finished the Saturday before. Even my native West Yorkshire, with its multiple richnesses of entertainments (definitely mad as a fish - ed), cannot match this.

Nor does one often get the chance to see three Shakespeare plays in such a short space of time. Another special plus was the return of Chapterhouse Theatre Company, whose productions have so well delighted Lancaster audiences both up in the Park, and in the lovely Grand Theatre, in previous years.

As one to whom the cavortings of international jingoism and the impenetrable intricacies of the world of sport mean little, this was a golden opportunity to escape the present silly season of banality in the media in general and on the television in particular.

It was a veritable mixed bag of shows, from populist but exquisite French comedy, through Lewis Carroll's wackiness for children, to tragedy from late Middle Ages Scotland, comedy from the rural heart of Elizabethan England, and Classical (or should that be Romantic?) Athens, as seen through the eyes of late Renaissance London. I was only slightly disappointed with one show, but that will not deter me one inch from my seemingly insatiable and hitherto much satisfied quest for Good Theatre in these parts.

The running order of my personal pentathlon, lined up for the starter's gun at 1930 each night, was as follows:

Wednesday 11 August: ART
Thursday 12 August: Macbeth
Friday 13 August: Alice Through The Looking Glass
Saturday 14 August: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Sunday 15 August: As You Like It
(Click on play to read the review)

Yes, there was certainly much to get through, but each one told its own story. Certainly the audiences on every night enjoyed themselves. The weather thankfully held for the most part, and it was truly heartening to see large numbers of children, and not just on the Alice evening. Nor was our feat of endurance unique; my partner and I were by no means alone in attending all or most of the five shows.

Lancaster's Summer Mini-Festival of Theatre, is a key part of the cultural diet of the area, and it was good to talk to folk there who had come from further afield, even from outside the County. I am already licking my lips at the prospect of next year's offerings …

Copyright © 17 August 2004 Michael Nunn
I am grateful to John Burkinshaw for his photographic skill and his kind assistance in the preparation of these reviews.