Bard on the Beach Season 2011 tally and 2012 preview
I am so sorry that I missed most of this year’s Bard on the Beach. Most people ask me how is it that I still miss out on events even with 2 interns. Well, ask my interns: their lives are crazy busy since they started working for me, and even now it’s hard for them to cover everything I get asked to. So, I’m really going to work hard at planning my 2011-2012 season.
And as my 2011-2012 theatre season goes under way, I noticed that this was a great year for Bard on the Beach.
At the closing night of the 2011 Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival season, Artistic Director Christopher Gaze announced that this summer’s overall attendance at the Festival was 84,000, an increase of 5,000 over total Bard attendance in 2010. In the Mainstage Theatre tent, the romantic comedy As You Like It directed by David Mackay played in repertory with the classic drama The Merchant of Venice directed by Rachel Ditor. In the Studio Stage tent, Bard concluded its 3-year History Cycle with a pair of history plays: Henry VI: The Wars of the Roses, an original production based on Henry VI, Parts I, II & III, adapted and directed by Christopher Weddell, along with Richard III, directed by Kathryn Shaw.
“Our increased attendance this year was possible thanks to the expanded capacity of our new 740-seat Mainstage Theatre tent. The additional seats allowed us to welcome patrons who would have been turned away in past seasons”, says Christopher Gaze. “We also were thrilled to offer reserved seating for the first time at Bard, eliminating the pre-show lineups of past years. Our new Mainstage Theatre tent, home of the BMO Mainstage, has given us more sophisticated technical facilities, more comfortable seating for our patrons and an improved environment for our actors; now we’re fine-tuning the space to make the patron experience even more satisfying. This season brought many changes to Bard. The learning we gained as we navigated those changes will strengthen our plans for next year and beyond; we embrace the future with open arms.”
I was able to enjoy this reserved seating and check out As You Like It (my only Bard on the Beach play this 2011, quite sad really). But I know now what is coming for 2012. Bard on the Beach’s 2012 season will run May 31 to September 22.
The opening production on the Festival’s BMO Mainstage will be the romantic comedy THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, staged by Meg Roe (Henry V, 2010; The Tempest, 2008). Playing in repertory with The Taming of the Shrew will be the timeless study of lust for power and moral decay, MACBETH, directed by Miles Potter (The Taming of the Shrew, 2007; Antony and Cleopatra, 2001; All’s Well That Ends Well, 2000). On the Douglas Campbell Studio Stage, Bard will present the perennially popular THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, directed by Jessie Award winning Johnna Wright (The Triumph of Love, Blackbird Theatre, 2007). Alternating with that boisterous tale of Sir John Falstaff’s romantic adventures is another of Shakespeare’s compelling history plays, KING JOHN, directed by Bard Associate Artistic Director Dean Paul Gibson (Much Ado About Nothing, 2010; Othello, 2009).
I’ve seen The Taming of the Shrew a few times, but I don’t think I’ve ever done Bard. Macbeth is a timeless play and I am definitely booking myself for that one. King John is new to me, so I hope to learn a bit more about Shakespeare with that one. The Merry Wives of Windsor is also totally new to me, and I really enjoy that. Despite having done theatre for so long, I find that there’s always something to learn.
You can follow the activities of Bard on the Beach on their site, via Twitter and on Facebook. Their 2012 season promises to be amazing, one of the best yet.
Related posts:
- As You Like It (Bard on the Beach) [theatre review]
- The Marriage of Figaro at Bard on The Beach (win tickets)
- As You Like It (Bard on the Beach)
- Othello (Bard on the Beach) [theatre review]
- All’s Well That Ends Well (Bard on the Beach Performance)
Much of the new seating went unused. I saw both “As You Like It” and “The Merchant of Venice”. By booking early for the latter I was able to secure seats near the front. But the system needs some upgrades: it is far better than the old line up and then scramble process, but you still don’t get to choose seats so much as a section where the seat is located. I find the acoustics of the new tent less than perfect, so sitting close to the action is more important to me than the view of the sunset!
Very talented cast this year – it would be invidious to mention individuals when the ensemble playing is so good. I regard Bard as an essential part of a Vancouver summer.