20 Years in 20 Weeks - Looking back to Bard in the Botanics 2002

It's Throwback Thursday #2 and this week we're looking back to our second season in 2003.

This was Founding Artistic Director, Scott Palmer's final season with the company and, boy, did he go out with a bang - to date 2003 our largest ever season of work with the Botanic Gardens playing host to a whopping 7 productions across a month of performances!

Before we even get to the summer, the company kicked off the year with an expanded version of our hit show from 2002 - "Kabuki-Titus" which played at the Perth International Festival of the Arts. Associate Director, Jennifer Dick, joined the original cast of 3 as a fearsome Tamora, Queen of the Goths.

Jennifer Dick as Tamora in “Kabuki-Titus” at Perth Theatre with Alan McPartlan & Dean Wright as Chiron & Demetrius

The summer season saw 5 full productions of Shakespeare from the company alongside 2 modern classics performed by visiting theatre company XLC (David Mamet's "Duck Variations" & Christopher Durang's "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For you" - which definitely still holds the record for the longest play title at Bard in the Botanics!)

Scott Palmer directed a World War 2 inspired promenade production of "Henry V" which highlighted the true human cost of war and explored the spin & politics that creates Henry's image as a King in the play. He also directed an epic production of "Antony & Cleopatra" set in the 1800's, which saw the original play's Egypt & Rome transplanted to India and Imperialist Britain - complete with its own troop of traditional Indian dancers!

The cast of Henry V (from L to R - Tim Barrow, Jennifer Dick, Paul Gillingwater, Sarah Chalcroft; Kirk Bage) with the real star of the show - a fabulous vintage car!

Meanwhile director, Kate Varney, took on the so-called problem play, Measure for Measure, in a period production that highlighted both the grotesque absurdity and intense drama of that story. This was followed by another promenade production, this time of "Much Ado About Nothing". Set in the aftermath of the Second World War, the returning soldiers and the land girls they'd left behind celebrated love and laughter in a heartfelt production.

From L to R - Diane Thornton (Hero); Sarah Chalcroft (Beatrice) & Isabelle Joss (Margaret) in “Much Ado About Nothing”, 2003

Artistic Director, Gordon Barr, took over the Kibble Palace for his second season as a Visiting Director, turning the glasshouse into a hedonistic 1920's jazz club for a steamy, riotous musical version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Michelle Wiggins as Bottom & Lois Creasy as Titania in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, 2003

When Scott Palmer left the company after the 2003 season to return to his native USA, it was Gordon Barr who took over as Artistic Director - a position he still holds today!

Looking back on his final season as Artistic Director, Scott had this to say:

"I have such powerful and clear memories of the 2003 season. Tim Barrow’s brilliantly powerful Henry, Jennifer Dick’s heartbreaking portrayal of Mistress Quickly, Paul Gillingwater’s cheeky and slightly oily propaganda minster-style Chorus are all forever etched in my memory from our production of Henry V. But I think the thing I remember most about the 2003 season was Nicki Walsh’s portrayal of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. I will never forget the final performance when, about 10 minutes before the end of the play, just as Nicki was putting the asp to her chest for Cleopatra’s big death scene, the sky opened and it started to pour down rain. I mean, it wasn’t just raining, it was like a monsoon. Kay Hesford, my dear friend and the stage manager of the show, came up to me and said, “I’m gonna call it. We have to stop.” And I just looked at her and then looked back at Nicki, and at the audience who was entranced by her performance, and Kay and I both knew we had to let it play out. We let the show finish, every audience member stayed, dripping from the rain, and there as a huge standing ovation. It is one of the most important memories of my directing career. The entire season in 2003 was magical and I love the entire team, all of the artists, and the stunning gardens with all of my heart."

Fun Facts:

- Our second year saw us employ a company of 37 actors (the largest acting ensemble ever engaged at Bard in the Botanics) including a VERY rare acting performance from Artistic Director, Gordon Barr, playing Peter Quince in "Dream" - playing the role of a fussy director beset by egotistical actors - what a stretch for him!

- Honorary Associate Artist, Nicki Walsh, joined the company for the first time in 2003 with a real baptism of fire - when an actor withdrew from the season because of illness, she stepped into the mammoth role of Cleopatra with less than 3 weeks rehearsal - and created one of the company's most iconic performances - what a woman!

- Cross-gendering remained an important part of our work in 2003 with Jennifer Dick's iconic performance as Enobarba and Michelle Wiggins' side-splitting performance as Bottom entering the Bard in the Botanics Hall of Fame and proving definitively that there's no reason men should get to have all the best roles in Shakespeare!

- Henry V definitely holds the record for the coolest prop - a genuine vintage Rolls Royce drove Sarah Chalcroft's Queen of France in to the heart of the action each night!

- Meanwhile another Henry V prop nearly got us in trouble with the local police - at the climax of the show, dummies were thrown off the bridge over the River Kelvin and "hung", dangling over the heads of the audience - police patrolling past were understandably suspicious of our stage team waiting on the bridge with three apparent "dead bodies"!

- Actor Rachel Colles played the role of Cleopatra's maidservant, Alexa, while 7 months pregnant!

2003 COMPANY:

Davey Anderson (Actor & Musical Director – Dream); Kirk Bage (Actor); Gordon Barr (Visiting Director); Tim Barrow (Actor); Jennifer Bates (Actor); Fi Carrington (Wardrobe Supervisor); Steven Caldwell (Actor); David Caird (Actor); Sarah Chalcroft (Actor); Kati Clark (Lighting Design – Dream); Rachel Colles (Actor); Garry Collins (Actor); Simon Conlon (Actor); Nicholas Cowell (Actor); Gillian Crawford (Actor); Lois Creasy (Actor); Juliet Diamond (Actor); Jennifer Dick (Actor); Duncan Edwards (Actor); Toni Frutin (Actor); Brian Gardiner (Designer – Dream); Paul Gillingwater (Actor); Francis Hagan (Actor); Kay Hesford (Company Stage Manager); Sophie Hobday (Stage Manager); Harriet Hunter (Actor); Stuart Jameson (Actor); Ivor MacAskill (Actor); Alisdair Macrae (Actor); Leah Macrae (Actor); Alan McPartlan (Actor); Rod Morrison (Actor); Jamie Neil (Actor); Scott Palmer (Artistic Director); Sarah Paulley (Head of Design); David Pearson (Actor); Julie Russell (Stage Manager); Oliver Searle (Composer – Measure for Measure); Pete Searle (Production Manager); Diane Thornton (Actor); Marc Twynholm (Actor); Kate Varney (Associate Director); Nicki Walsh (Actor); David Whitney (Actor); Michelle Wiggins (Actor); Simeon Wren (Actor); Chris Wilson (Choreographer – Dream); Dean Wright (Actor)