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The Wadham Players rehearse for the Three Musketeers, above. Below, a laydbird similar to those in Barnsbury Wood |
Ladybirds, crickets, and men in tights?
Three Musketeers set to be performed in ‘ecology area’ wood
IT is one of Islington’s best-kept secrets – a protected glade in the heart of residential Barnsbury where rare 16-spotted yellow ladybirds flutter around ancient oaks.
But next weekend the mysterious Barnsbury Wood and its population of greater-spotted woodpeckers, oak bush crickets and lesser-stag beetles will be overrun by a foreign species – a troupe of swashbuckling men in tights.
The Three Musketeers will try not to squash any endangered flora and fauna during their sword fights in the secluded nature reserve on Sunday, July 19.
The company behind the one-off production, The Wadham Players, have signed a contract with Islington Council promising to obey the rules of the “island ecology area”, which is hidden behind a padlocked garden gate in Thornhill Crescent and accessed by permission only.
Actor Matt Mitchell, who plays Planchet in the stage version of the famous Alexander Dumas novel, said the 20-strong cast had undergone rigorous choreography with professional fight arranger Dominic Kineard to ensure the environment was not disturbed.
He added: “It’s a totally unique, magical venue. Obviously they don’t want too many people going in there and destroying the habitat.
“We have to be careful with the area – we’re not allowed to move any logs or rocks.
“The wildlife is everywhere there. There are bats in the trees; one plant is full of snails. You’ll look up at a leaf while you’re performing and there’ll be a frog up there. The venue is definitely one of the actors. It’s part of the show.”
The Wadham Players, founded in 1992, are no strangers to the perils of performing in Barnsbury Wood. This is their tenth year in the space.
Lights and sound are provided by neighbours’ electricity; power cords snake through the green arcanet and wild garlic.
In Barnsbury Wood – which can only be visited in the summer months for four hours a week – actors are in the minority.
Mr Mitchell, who has been with the company for seven years, said he “didn’t recall any hostile incidents with the wildlife”, although one year a wasps’ nest had been discovered behind the makeshift dressing room.
The Players have staged Shakespearian comedies and classical dramas among the elder thickets and 200-year-old ash trees.
The tale of young D’Artagnan, the King’s Musketeers and the dastardly schemes of Cardinal Richelieu looks set to be the most action-packed production yet.
And as with all outdoor theatre, the actors’ greatest adversary is not the woodpeckers or the Cardinals, but that familiar old foe – the English weather.
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