Honour Bayes: Shakespeare in pubs? You’re Bard

I’ve seen a lot of Shakespeare above pubs this year and I’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t do this huge playwright in tiny rooms; not in traditional productions anyway. So why do so many companies try?

Shakespeare wrote for theatres where the actors played to the heavens; quite literally, The Globe and The Rose had no roofs. His poetry was given space to breath and in such theatres his soaring speeches took flight.

And so it is today, as anyone who’s visited the new incarnation of this Elizabethan theatre can attest. Even the most straightforward retelling of the Bard can feel magical at The Globe because the space and work are so attuned.

Here the groundlings give the bawdy comedy legs, the epic tragedy is framed within a genuinely gladiatorial arena and the romance is enhanced with the nostalgia of wooden boards and onstage pipers.

Why else are we so excited about the potential of The Rose or the newly discovered Curtain? Elizabethan theatre spaces give us a huge insight into Elizabethan theatre practices.

The Royal Shakespeare Company also produce shows within vast Elizabethan-inspired arenas, specifically tailoring the space at the Roundhouse Theatre to reflect this when they perform their London season there.

Whilst their productions are slightly more adventurous than those on the Southbank, their work is consistently and traditionally text led. They understand the size of staging that such renditions require. “All the world’s a stage” Shakespeare said, not “All the world’s a loft conversion”.

In traditional productions these smaller environments close down Shakespeare’s bold characters into cramped and entrapped mediocrity. Even the best pub As You Like It I’ve seen couldn’t make me believe we were in a forest where roles could be reversed and magic happen.

Companies need to start thinking outside the black box. Iris Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet in The Actor’s Church gardens was deeply effective, with the end scene movingly taking place in the church itself and their As You Like It promises to be a delight this month.

Theatre Delicatessen’s Henry V at Marylebone Gardens has been garnering brilliant reviews for its expansive and immersive production in the basement of a huge old BBC building.

Of course in an ideal world the audience should be transported beyond the confines of any space. But as the wise friend who pointed this out to me admitted, you need exceptional actors, directors or designers to accomplish that.

Or you need the imagination to come at Shakespeare from a completely different angle; to present new takes on these infamous stories. Interpretations that explode the Bard and put him back together again to reveal parts not previously seen.

It’s easier to take this exploration away from the publican. But during the writing of this I’ve also realised that as long as you are interested breaking the mould it’s one that could take place in a tiny room. After all pub theatres are essentially miniature ‘one-room’ auditoriums (the technical term I’m told for The Globe et al).

In both rooms we are very much in the same space, allowing for a better connection between actor and audience; a relationship we know works well for Shakespeare. I’m not saying no to the idea of fringe Shakespeare, but why would you try to do a straightforward production in a room the size of Juliet’s balcony?

Let’s breakthrough the fourth wall convention with pub Shakespeare and use this intimacy to make the collaborative experience all the more potent. Do bold and innovative takes on these classic stories, do something different with them, but please leave tradition at the boozer door.