The Bard is back in Brisbane later this month, marking the 20-year anniversary of the 4MBS Brisbane Shakespeare Festival.

Festival co-founder, artistic director and performer Tama Matheson says the milestone reflects the success of an event that started all the way back in 2007.

“When we first set it up, we thought, ‘Oh, I wonder if this will work or whether it’ll sort of end in five years’ time’,” Matheson says. “And it’s still going. So, I’m delighted.”

This success stems from the dedication Matheson and festival co-founder, 4MBS Classic FM general manager Gary Thorpe, have put into ensuring the festival appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Every year one of Shakespeare’s plays is selected to spotlight. This year it’s Henry IV (Parts I and II combined), taking festivalgoers back in time to Elizabethan England.

You might like

Theatre

Ten years on the naughty list: The campest, crudest cabaret returns

Review

The heat is on! Why this show is still the hottest ticket in town!

Over this weekend (October 31 and November 1), multiple events will take place at Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre, where festival patrons will experience a slice of the past. There will be Shakespearean dancing accompanied by live Renaissance music, a swordplay and duelling showcase, and a child-friendly performance of Macbeth.

You might like

Theatre

Ten years on the naughty list: The campest, crudest cabaret returns

Review

The heat is on! Why this show is still the hottest ticket in town!

“The idea is that you don’t just come cold to a production,” Matheson explains. “You’ve been drawn in, sort of absorbing it by osmosis, so people feel as though they’re in some little hint of an archaic festival atmosphere, and the play comes out of that.”

This year, Matheson and Thorpe selected Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, combining the two works into a two-hour performance. Henry IV, first performed in 1598, tells the story of the titular monarch during his reign in the early 1400s, depicting rebellion against the crown and the development of Prince Hal, the future Henry V.

The plays feature more than 80 characters but in this version, 14 actors (including Matheson) will juggle all 80 of them, quick costume changes included.

“We’re going to play into that and make a virtue of it, so actually the audience can see us changing on stage,” Matheson says. “Rather than trying to make an illusion and go, ‘Oh, it’s a new actor!’, we let them know, and part of the fun will be watching the transformation on stage.”

The play will be performed at the beautiful Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre, a venue that harks back to when these plays were first performed in venues such as the Globe Theatre in London. With Henry IV starting at 5.30pm, both days, festivalgoers will be treated to Shakespeare by sunset.

“It’s a beautiful, magical thing,” Matheson says. “As the night falls, you get the twilight skies, and then the place becomes more and more intimate and dark.”

This magic isn’t limited to the staging and venue. It’s infused into the very soul of Shakespearean storytelling, present in every character who steps upon the stage and in every line they deliver.

“It’s as though every part of human life is contained and examined and anatomised in these plays, and everyone can really see themselves, even within the specifics of the play,” Matheson says.

“The general truths are so universal, so irresistible that everybody just feels, ‘Yes, this is what it’s like to be a human being’, wherever they are in the world. And that’s an extraordinary thing to achieve over the chasm of 400 years.”

The 4MBS Brisbane Shakespeare Festival, Roma St Parkland Amphitheatre, October 31 and November 1, with Henry IV Parts I and II performances at 5.30pm both days. Check out the website for all events.

brisbaneshakespearefestival.com.au

This article was written as part of The Critical Writing Program, run in partnership with Queensland Writers Centre and InReview Queensland, supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Education.