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Much Ado About Nothing

In February 2002 John Marwick directed the first Shakespeare production to be held in Muritai School yard. Much Ado About Nothing was presented with a little bit of a 'tango twist'. The play was part of the Wellington Fringe Festival that year. The Cast DON PEDRO Laurie Atkinson DON JOHN Chris Morey CLAUDIO Dan Caddy BENEDICK Ashley Bloomfield LEONATA Sandra Gillespie ANTONIO Jerry Duckor CONRADE John Marwick BORACHIO Reuben Hardie FRIAR FRANCIS Trevor Rose DOGBERRY Trevor Rose VERGES Jerry Duckor HERO Holly Robinson BEATRICE Rowan Macrae MARGARET Yvonne Bishop URSULA Anne Manchester Publicity 2002 Teasing, Treachery and the Tango For the first time Eastbourne will

Beauties, Barmaids and Battleaxes

For Bard in the Yard for 2003 John Marwick and Jerry Duckor devised a production featuring a collection of scenes chosen for the way they portray Shakespeare's women.

All’s Well That Ends Well

Bard in the Yard in 2004 was Shakespeare's lesser-known comedy All's well That Ends Well directed by John Marwick. Part of the Fringe Festival. In April the director and cast took the play to Stratford (on Patea not Avon) and presented an afternoon performance in an outdoor setting. Publicity 2004 Eastbourne's Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe has chosen All’s Well that Ends Well for this year’s popular outdoor Bard in the Yard Fringe presentation. This is the third year the Troupe has brought the Bard to Fringe audiences – though it will be the eighth year of Bard in the Yard for Eastbourne. They’re getting a name

Two Gentlemen of Verona

Our Bard in the Yard production was Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Trevor Rose. We toured this production for one performance at Emerald Glen Homestead (Raumati South) and to Stratford (in Taranaki).

The Merchant of Venice

After failing to cast a full-scale performance of this play for Bard in the Yard the Troupe agreed to John Marwick’s proposal to present a two-night run of a staged reading in early April inside the school hall.  Unusually, the performance was presented in cabaret style using raised rostra on the floor of the hall while the audience sat at tables.  Florence Mcfarlane and Fran Baldock, as Salanio and Salarino (or was it the other way round!) sang brief jazz classics between scenes to Bill Wollerman’s piano accompaniment. The production was very well-received. Jerry Duckor was outstanding as Shylock. CAST Salanio Fran Baldock Jessica Amber Baldock Bassanio

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2007

Florence McFarlane set our first Bard in the Yard Midsummer Night's Dream in an old folk's home so the four 'young' lovers were aged from 60s to 80s. The play was part of the Wellington Fringe Festival and received this positive review from Ewen Coleman in the Dominion Post: Sheer delight Review by Ewen Coleman 06th Mar 2007 The two plays of Shakespeare that are most associated with youth are Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and so to have the latter set in a rest home where the majority of the characters are in their dotage, as they are in Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupes current Bard-In-The-Yard production seems a