Bard In The Botanics 2025 Season

Bard in the Botanics announces the new programme for 2025 season.

The endlessly gripping and inventive team return with more suspense, humour, grit, mystery and romance this Summer.

Images: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Romeo and Juliet, Doctor Faustus, Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia

• Artistic Director, Gordon Barr, returns to his Bard roots with new productions of the first plays he directed at the festival: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet
• Associate Director, Jennifer Dick, presents a new production of her version of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus and premieres an adaptation of three Conan Doyle stories in Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia
• Core company members Stephen Arden, James Boal, Adam Donaldson, Claire Mcallister, Alan Steele and Sam Stopford return for the 2025 season
• The 2025 season runs from 25 June – 2 August in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens.

Bard in the Botanics has today announced details of its 2025 season, which features two of Shakespeare’s most popular plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet alongside works by Marlowe: Dr Faustus and Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia.

The Magic, Mayhem and Murder season opens on 27 June 2025 (previews on 25 and 26 June) with a new mainstage production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 15 years after he last directed the play, Gordon Barr will present a version featuring Bard company stalwart, Alan Steele, as Bottom with Bard regulars, James Boal and Claire Macallister, as Oberon and Titania. Barr promises a production that draws on Celtic and British Folklore to create a magical version of the evergreen comedy. Meanwhile, in the Kibble Palace glasshouse Jennifer Dick will direct a new production of her 3-hander adaptation of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus with Adam Donaldson as Faustus and Sam Stopford as Mephistopheles.

The second half of the season, which starts on 18 July (with previews on 17 July) features a new production of Barr’s 5-hander Romeo & Juliet, which was last staged in 2012. Sam Stopford takes on the role of Romeo with Lola Aluko as Juliet. Over in the Kibble Palace a new piece by Jennifer Dick is set to have its premiere. Following her adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde, which broke box-office records for the company in 2023, Dick has now woven together three of Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes short stories into a brand-new play: Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia. Adam Donaldson takes on the role of Sherlock Holmes with Stephen Arden as Dr Watson.

Announcing the programme Artistic Director, Gordon Barr, recalled his early work with Bard in the Botanics.

“In my first two years with Bard in the Botanics almost 25 years ago I was delighted to be able to direct two of my favourite Shakespeare plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet. Those shows sparked a life-long love of Shakespeare – his plays have such an incredible depth that no matter how often you return to them there is always more to discover and it is a great pleasure to revisit these two plays for the 2025 season with more than two decades of experience under my belt!”

“Whilst Shakespeare remains at the heart of Bard in the Botanics, as we continue to explore more of the canon of classic drama and literature, it’s exciting to bring the work of another Scottish author to our stages – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His Sherlock Holmes stories have delighted generations of readers and I can’t wait for our Associate Director, Jennifer Dick, to bring three of those stories to life in the Kibble Palace in a brand new play featuring the world’s foremost consulting detective.

“This season is full of great stories – some of the best and most enduring stories ever told. From the iconic lovers of Romeo and Juliet to Faustus’ pact with the devil to the thrilling adventures of Sherlock Holmes, there’s really something for everyone in this year’s programme. Whether you’re looking for comedy, romance – or even a spot of grisly murder – Bard in the Botanics has you covered in 2025.”

Listings

27 June – 12 July at 7.30pm (previews 25 and 26 June / no performances Sundays and Mondays)

Main Stage, Botanic Gardens, Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Tickets: £28, £21 (Disabled / Student / Unemployed), £15 (Under 18s, Equity / BECTU / SSP members)

Previews and Discount Tuesdays – all tickets £19  

Young lovers, a troupe of amateur actors, and even the King & Queen of the Faeries find themselves tangled up in a web of love and desire in this new production directed by Gordon Barr, which features CATS nominated actor, Alan Steele, as the weaver Nick Bottom

27 June – 12 July (preview 26 June) at 8pm (no performances Sundays and Mondays)

Kibble Palace, Botanic Gardens, Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12

Doctor Faustus

By Christopher Marlowe, adapted by Jennifer Dick

Tickets: £28; £21 (Disabled / Student / Unemployed); £15 (Under 18s, Equity / BECTU / SSP members)

Previews and Discount Tuesdays – all tickets £19  

Christoper Marlowe’s epic drama, adapted for three actors, plays out in the intimate surroundings of the Kibble Palace glasshouse. Jennifer Dick directs this new production of her adaptation, which asks the ultimate question: What is the price of your soul?

18 July – 2 August 2025 at 7.30pm (Preview on 17 July, no performances Sundays/Mondays)

Main Stage, Botanic Gardens, Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12

Romeo and Juliet

Tickets: £28, £21 (Disabled / Student / Unemployed), £15 (Under 18s, Equity / BECTU / SSP members)

Previews and Discount Tuesdays – all tickets £19  

Two young people meet and fall in love. It should be simple, but Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, and the ancient grudge between their two families threatens to ignite again and destroy them both. Rising star of Scottish Theatre, Sam Stopford, is Romeo with Lola Aluko as Juliet in this 5-hander production directed by Gordon Barr.

18 July – 2 August 2025 at 8pm (Preview on 17 July, no performances Sundays/Mondays)

Kibble Palace, Botanic Gardens, Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A Scandal in Bohemia

By Jennifer Dick Based on the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle

Tickets: £28, £21 (Disabled / Student / Unemployed), £15 (Under 18s, Equity / BECTU / SSP members)

Previews and Discount Tuesdays – all tickets £19  

Whodunnits are Holmes’ bread and butter, but this particular case introduces him to “The Woman” – Irene Adler, and it won’t be the last time she taxes his spectacular powers of deduction. This four-hander production, adapted and directed by Jennifer Dick features Adam Donaldson as Sherlock Holmes with Stephen Arden as Dr Watson.

For more information and to book online visit:    www.bardinthebotanics.co.uk