Shakespeare Revue
Friday 26th and Saturday 27th March 2004
Shakespeare’s Canon
Written by Douglas Roberts and directed by Kath Mansfield
Gentlemen of the Shade
Written by Fiona and Richard Forsyth
Shakespeare at Traquair were the first of the local community groups to perform at the Eastgate in March 2004. Young Shakespeare were actually the first with Shakespeare’s Canon directed by Kath Mansfield, followed by the adults in the Gentlemen of the Shade, written by Douglas Roberts, Ian McFadyen, Fiona and Richard Forsyth.
Shakespeare’s Canon
Part 1 included “Shakespeare’s Canon”, written by local teacher and writer Douglas Roberts. A frantic romp through the best of the Bard, the show was presented by the group’s youngsters. This was followed by Shakespearean heroines performing soliloquies from Shakespeare, as well as thoughts as imagined by local poet, Ian McFadyen.
Gentlemen of the Shade
Part 2 was a production called “Gentlemen of the Shade”, created especially for the revue by Richard and Fiona Forsyth. An adaptation of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, it featured additional material from Richard II and Henry V. The play focused on the story of Falstaff and asked serious questions about the nature of honour, authority and the relationships between women and men.
Robert Noble Trophy
In 2004, Luca Pornaro and Richard Nisbet were presented with the Robert Noble Trophy by the late Peter Norris, chair of the Peebles Arts Festival. This was in recognition of Shakespeare at Traquair’s contribution to encouraging young people to take part in drama. Youngsters have always been an integral part of our productions and we have also have produced several plays especially for them and in recent years taken these to the Edinburgh Fringe (e.g. 2015, 2016 and 2018). We are proud of this and really appreciate the recognition of what we do with the award of the Robert Noble Trophy. A newspaper cutting from The Peeblesshire News:
