The play’s the thing

Best not go and see the Handlebards.  Not if you’re hungry, anyway.  Here is a theatre troupe who will drink your beer and steal your strawberries all in the name of art.

But our date with the Handlebards has been in the diary since February.  Ever since I saw this witty and inventive  lot at Bolton Castle last year I’ve been on their mailing list.  Last year I saw the female troupe.  This year we went to see the men at work. William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  Sixteen characters.  Four actors.  No problem.  Men can multi-task too.

The four Handlebards just before it all began.

And multi-task they did.  The Queen’s English, broad Scots, Northern accents all had their places. Hats, jackets and gilets all stood in for the characters who wore them, but who were temporarily detained in another role.  Balloons barely concealed behind an voluminous white pinny lent girth and a (sort of) female form to Maria, while sporting a little number in prettily sprigged voile enabled us to understand that the (bearded) Olivia was now on stage.

Olivia.
Maria.

Occasionally audience members were pressed into service.  The cast took any opportunity to help themselves to crisps, wine and cake, legitimising the thefts by working them into the action on stage.  Nobody thus deprived of their picnic minded at all.  Picnic?  Yes, it was a lovely summer’s evening.  We’d all spread ourselves over the lawn of the Ripon Workhouse Museum, armed with blankets, garden chairs and baskets of treats.  Gruel was not on the menu.

See what I mean? Who stole the crisps?

It was all a bit exhausting, even for the delighted audience.  How the troupe summon up the energy  to cycle off to a new venue day after day is beyond me.  But that’s what they do, up and down the length of the kingdom throughout the summer season.  ‘Have bike, will perform’ must be their motto.  Here’s what they say:

Since 2013, the HandleBards have clocked-up over 7000 miles by cycling around the world to perform Shakespeare. Described by none other than Sir Ian McKellen as ‘uproariously funny’, we set the world on wheels with our unique brand of extremely energetic, charmingly chaotic, environmentally friendly cycle-powered theatre.

We love an adventure.

You really should go and see them after all.  And take a picnic.  A picnic big enough to share.

Tuesday’s Ragtag Challenge is ‘Play’.  I went to the play.  Here’s what I saw.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

24 thoughts on “The play’s the thing”

  1. Sounds like riotous fun. We did Rufford Old Hall one year where a troupe did a Midsummer’s Night Dream to perfection, in the gardens.

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    1. I wonder if it was the troupe we saw? We had to wander through the woods of Ripley Castle some years ago following the adventures in Midsummer’s Night Dream, and it was a wonderful evening. Such fun.

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      1. Oh, this is a good 20 years ago now, and the troupe was mixed. But yes great fun and hilarious in their interpretation. A fun night under the stars, I fondly remember.

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  5. Haha, brilliant! I’ve never had my food stolen by performers before, sounds like quite the experience. The acting juggle did remind me of another troupe which performs hilarity with the bard’s works, The Reduced Shakespeare Company in London.

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  9. These guys must have so much fun together! Although you’re right–where do they get the energy?! Nothing this much fun ever seems to happen around here. . . .

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