Summer night’s dream from the Bard

Mar 26 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

God, quarrymen, mother nature and community spirit have attracted one of the world’s greatest Shakespeare companies to a Liverpool garden. David Charters reports

WATERY-EYED philosophers sitting beneath tartan rugs on wicker chairs could argue forever about whether God or the hard-shouldered men who gouged stone should be given top billing on this sacred ground.

But between them, they have given our city one of the world’s finest open-air theatres.

Heaven, illuminated by the sun, moon and stars, is its endless roof and the acoustics are tested daily by puff-chested songbirds, full of drama, poise and passion.

In the late summer, when this European Capital of Culture will be in full throb, they will be joined by some of Britain’s greatest Shakespearean actors, giving flesh to his immortal speeches.

Flesh is always cherished in this quarried hollow beneath Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral. For, almost 58,000 people were buried here before it closed as a cemetery in 1936.

But it is also home to frogs, rabbits, beetles, scrawny and street-wise foxes, worms, spiders and a rare breed of Mediterranean snail, whose mysterious arrival still thrills the hearts of gastropod fanciers.

What a setting St James’ Gardens will provide for a travelling troupe from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London. They have just been booked for seven performances of The Winter’s Tale from July 31 until August 4 – five evening shows with matinees on the Saturday and Sunday. Three of the performances, on the Thursday, Saturday and Monday, will be in the cathedral, with the others in the garden theatre, cut into stone that is 220m years old, give or take an afternoon.

This is a major coup for Liverpool.

The internationally -acclaimed Globe, which only started touring last year, has not been to Liverpool before. These shows have been planned for the peak of the holiday season when the city’s cultural offerings will have a huge international audience.

The deal, which has involved various organisations, was secured by Liverpool’s Lodestar Theatre, whose own company will present A Midsummer’s Night Dream in the Gardens every Wednesday to Sunday from August 13 to September 7-18 performances.

It is part of the Liverpool Shakespeare Festival, which will also feature big-screen showings of Shakespeare films on August 7, 8 and 9. Popcorn will be sold.

Although they haven’t yet been chosen, the Globe is expected to send 10 actors, which will mean some of them doubling to cover all the roles.

Lodestar is run by Nina Borgner, producer and creative manager, and Max Rubin, the artistic director. Last year, the company presented Macbeth in St James’ Gardens.

But this story brilliantly reflects the new mood which has enabled Liverpool to regain its place among the world’s great cities.

On either side of what is now the 11-acre garden area, there were two quarries – one provided sandstone used in the construction of many fine buildings including the Town Hall (1747).

Twenty years later, Thomas Johnson, Mayor of Liverpool and a man of means, feared that a rise in bread prices would result in widespread hunger among the poor of the growing port. He provided employment for men levelling the massive Quarry Hill spoil-tip into a terrace. When planted with plants and shrubs, it became a park, called Sion Mount, changing its name seven years later to St James’ Mount, after the nearby church.

A coffee house/tavern, serving people of “superior class”, soon appeared. There were windmills on either side of the terrace. One stood until 1800. The other, at the south end, was replaced by the Oratory, which now houses art treasures.

In 1825, the main quarry was exhausted and it was decided to develop the area as an Anglican cemetery.

Among those buried here are Kitty Wilkinson, pioneer of public wash-houses; Captain John Oliver, veteran of the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar; and William Lynn, founder of the Grand National.

ALSO, there are the graves of young orphans. In 1936, the site was redeveloped as a park and the gravestones were re-sited, many lining the walls opposite the catacombs.

Of course, the most important local change was Liverpool Cathedral, built between 1904 and 1978.

However, the land overlooked by the magnificent neo-Gothic building was a disgrace. What should have been a place of beauty and tranquillity in the centre of the city, Liverpool’s oldest public park, was a sorrowful spread of weeds and litter, frequented by drug addicts and winos.

The site, bounded by Upper Duke Street and Upper Parliament Street, Gambier Terrace and Great George Street, had been strolled by ladies in their finery drawn to the chalybeate spring on the east side, apparently efficacious in the treatment of eye complaint, nervous disorders and rheumatism. But it had long since been abandoned by respectable society.

Anxiety about the future of the land was raised by a conference of bishops at the cathedral in 2001. This led to the formation of the Friends of St James’ Gardens, who had to negotiate with Liverpool City Council, the cathedral authorities and the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, each of whom own a part of the land. It was decided to restore the gardens.

To the earth was added the sweat freely given by 150 volunteers, who toiled for 457 hours, planting 371 wild roses along the way, as they restored the gardens, reopened to the public in 2004.

Amid the blaze of new colours were the white rose of Yorkshire, the red rose of Lancashire, the musk rose, the holy rose of Abyssinia, Damask rose, old blush, the Tibet rose, dog rose and sweet briar.

Even more importantly, people have returned to the gardens. But the potential for outdoor theatre is a immense.

“Attracting the Globe here is a great honour for us,” says Nina, who was born in Hamburg in 1981 and graduated from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in Arts, Music and Entertainment. “This is a wonderful feather in our cultural cap,” says Max. “They are a wonderful theatre company and they have never been here before. It will give Liverpool a taste of something new. We are both very fortunate – them and us.

“The Capital of Culture has obviously been an attraction for them, but Nina having done a lot of the groundwork in terms of marketing and creating an audience base for the festival has greased the wheels for them.

‘THE setting is extraordinary. I don’t know of any other city which has a little gem like St James’ Park, which is so tranquil, almost like a secret garden. It was six years before I knew it was there. It is like a tiny oasis. I love it,” adds Max, 34, who comes from Truro, Cornwall. His wife is Ruth Alexander, the actress.

“People will bring their own chair, but we will provide blankets. Luckily, the garden is so full of ridges, bumps and natural benches that there are lots of places for people to make themselves comfortable. There are three or four natural stages. We try and make the garden part of the performance.”

The capacity audience for each performance is 500.

“We are going to have an al fresco restaurant,” says Nina. “There will also be a takeaway and bistro area, and we are going to have a pre-booked picnic area. There will be lots of fruit and salad.

“We learned so much from last year, and this year we are going to concentrate on transforming the gardens to make this into a magical experience for Liverpool. I don’t want to give too much away because we have some secret plans, but the gardens will never have looked like this. This is a city that thrives on words and language.

“Liverpudlians are more willing to talk to you than anywhere I have ever been. The way people use language is really rich. Perhaps it is the Irish lyricism.

“The Globe is a superb, world-class company with a much more direct playing style than the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is difficult to compare them.”

Robin Riley, founder of the Friends of St James’ Gardens and a renowned sculptor, helped Nina and Max make the arrangements. Does he think the Mediterranean snail will be among the distinguished audience on the first night?

“What a delightful thought,” chortles Robin, 75. “It is true, of course. It will be a very special audience.

“The snail people discovered that this was the most northerly habitat of the snail and they were really bowled over by this. It took me weeks to find one. They look quite like a normal snail, but their shells are a bit flatter. They were hiding behind the ivy.

“We also have 48 species of bird here. The park has become very popular. There are always people here now.”

TICKETS will be available online at www.TheLiverpoolShakespeareFestival.co.uk, on 0151 324 0237 and at several designated outlets across the city from now. Discounts for early bookings and concessionary rates will be available, and this summer will also see a few specials such as sneak previews, matinees and midnight shows

davidcharters