REVIEWS

THE BRISTOL EVENING POST

The Taming of the Shrew, Friday 1st July 2011, at Royal York Crescent & York Gardens, by Martin Booth.

THE annual appearance of the Festival Players Theatre Company in the spacious gardens in front the Royal York Crescent are one of the highlights of the Clifton calendar. Once again this year, the production was raising much-needed funds to repair the crumbling wall around the gardens.

Before the play began, there was a chance to have a picnic in the gardens before a mass decampment to small stage. Foldaway chairs were positioned to the back, while those with rugs sat nearer the action and at one point had to take evasive action as a petrified squirrel ran through their number, much to the mirth of the actors who impressively ad-libbed.

The Gloucestershire-based Festival Players are an all-male touring company of professional actors and musicians who perform open-air Shakespeare – from National Trust properties to London squares, village greens and Scottish castles – making Shakespeare's work accessible to more people.

The Taming of the Shrew centres on the fiery Katharina, played by the engaging Scott Smith. Bristol-born Paul Hampton was her mad-cap suitor, Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, while the other stand-out actor was Andrew Bowen-Jones as Tranio and Hortensio, whose falsetto singing will live long in the memory.

As always, Martin Tomms' acting, mostly as a bumbling fool, was sublime, and so were the original songs by composer and musical director Johnny Coppin.

Men dressed as women, fresh air sun, squirrels and comedy. This production had it all.