Staging the Bard on the sward

Falstaff (Phil Hudson) flanked by Slender (Will Herd) and a maid (Rachel Keay). Photo / Paul Brooks

It has become a ritual. Once every two years, or thereabouts, pandemics permitting, theatre lovers flock to Bason Botanic Gardens in Rapanui Rd to share the delights of a well-produced and well-directed play by William Shakespeare.

Directed by Karen Craig, the plays so far have been Macbeth, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice and, this year, The Merry Wives of Windsor. The producer this year was Terry Dowdeswell of the Bason Botanic Trust.

Every production is a huge undertaking but the results — as far as the audience is concerned — are worth it.

This year, this month, we saw Falstaff hoist on his petard as he attempted to woo two unavailable, married women. Falstaff was played by the formidable Phil Hudson, and this was a role that could have been written for him.

Karen had assembled a talented cast ranging in age from pre-teen to terribly mature, built a set on the green, arranged the audience on the hillside, gathered volunteers to staff the “theatre” entrance, and so much more to guarantee an al fresco delight.

People arrive early, if they can, to snaffle the best “seats” and get the best view. Audio is not a problem as the main players wear microphones and there are technicians in the crew.

“Performing outdoors for the main event and having the Vintage Weekend ‘primer’ as part of the performance calendar, the SITPW has a bit of an Edinburgh Fringe Festival vibe, which is pretty unique for Whanganui,” says Karen.

The play was postponed a week when it looked like the weather would be unkind, but the eventual scheduled days (and nights) were fine and clear, with a large moon providing a natural spotlight.

People brought sand chairs, rugs, cushions, bean bags — anything to make themselves comfortable. Many brought a light supper, although hampers could be purchased with your ticket. In addition, there was a licensed bar, an icecream vendor and a barista dispensing coffee and hot chocolate from a caravan.

Over the four days of performances, a local duck, dubbed “Mary” by the cast and crew, did the rounds of the audience in search of snacks, and, after at first just watching the performance, joined in and became a mute cast member. Occasionally one of the players would alter a scripted line to acknowledge or include Mary.

“One of the things I enjoyed about doing Merry Wives of Windsor was that the cast was a real mixture of people I had worked with before and people who were new to Shakespeare and/or new to the stage,” says Karen. “If I’ve been able to increase the pool of people interested in becoming involved with local theatre - I’m happy!”

Patrons were given feedback forms and asked to fill them out and answer a few questions.

Many of the responders had been to previous productions (a high percentage had attended all of the other productions) and indicated that it was a part of the Whanganui entertainment calendar that they looked forward to. If anyone still has feedback forms in their possession - Repertory Theatre has kindly offered to collect them, or you can email photos or scans to shakespeareintheparkwhanganui@gmail.com.