Review: Bard From The Barn Series 1

See the Bard’s iconic characters as you’ve never seen them before in Bard From The Barn, Shakespeare’s Greatest Characters in Lockdown!

Produced by The Barn Theatre, a series of 35 monologues have been updated and brought to us in a much-revamped fashion. They use clever production and some very slick editing to bring these famous characters to life. Throughout, there’s multiple uses of social media and the technology we take for granted everyday, and with many pieces having been filmed on phones, it all feels very current.

The shooting of the monologues was clearly not without limitation with many filmed during the Covid-19 lockdown. However, the directors of each piece have cleverly adapted to shoot within the confines of lockdown laws to great effect.

Each monologue is immensely watchable and engaging, especially if you’re a huge Shakespeare fan like me! I also feel that having the monologues recorded in this way makes them more accessible to a wider audience, who may usually avoid Shakespeare’s work like the plague!

There’s a nice mix of comedy and drama and I really enjoyed watching new adaptations of some of my favourite speeches.

Definite personal highlights include Mark Antony’s famous monologue, reimagined as a government official addressing the nation via a national broadcast. I feel it was somewhat reminiscent of the Covid-19 daily briefings, which I appreciated. It’s an engaging take on an oft recited speech, well directed and performed by Hal Chambers and Aaron Sidwell respectively.

Directed by Joseph Pitcher, we are also treated to a dark and suspenseful Iago (played excellently by Adam Sopp) quietly ruminating and plotting his way to Othello’s downfall. I loved this monologue! I felt engaged in the action in a way I’ve certainly missed since theatres went dark.

Another delight is Imogen Halsey playing Launce from Two Gentlemen of Verona (directed by Robert Forknall) with additional editing also undertaken by Imogen. This wonderfully comedic piece shows Launce being sent to isolate in the garden shed by the worried family. It’s an amusing and engaging interpretation, performed brilliantly.

Honourable mentions should also go to the darkly amusing (if a little gruesome) Titus Andronicus and Benedict’s debate about the virtues of marriage (filmed during the permitted exercise time).

In short, Bard From The Barn is well worth a watch, for both avid fans of Shakespeare and a wider audience of theatre fans.

Bard From The Barn is co-produced by Aaron Sidwell, Hal Chambers and the Barn Theatre and based on an original concept by Sidwell and Chambers. The production is co-ordinated by Emma Smith with Benjamin Collins as Lead Editor and Sound Design by Harry Smith.

You can find Bard From The Barn on the Barn Theatre’s YouTube page here, along with a weekly review episode that features discussions between co-producer Aaron Sidwell, lead editor Benjamin Collins and the cast and creatives of Bard From The Barn.