With the city’s Botanic Gardens as a stunning backdrop, audiences will be treated to some of Shakespeare’s most chaotic characters unleashed under the stars with the Australian Shakespeare Company’s fabulously mad Peter Quince presents Shakespeare’s Best Bits.
From star-crossed lovers and shipwrecks to swordfights and soliloquies, this production pulls together highlights from half a dozen of the Elizabethan master’s most famous works in a fast-paced, inventive montage of mistaken identities, slapstick and theatrical mayhem.
Actor Madeleine Somers plays Snug, one of the mechanicals originally from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, describing him as such a joyful contradiction.
“Snug is earnest, well-meaning, and hilariously ill-equipped for the theatrical task at hand, which is precisely why he’s essential to the story. In Midsummer, the mechanicals’ play-within-the-play acts as both comic relief and a loving mirror held up to theatre and the playmaking journey itself.
In Best Bits, Snug is lovingly reinvented and dialled up, more bewildered, more dumbfounded, and even more gloriously out of his depth. His sincerity remains the heartbeat of the character, but the comedy is heightened through his confusion, physicality, and wholehearted commitment to something he only half understands. That dumbfoundedness becomes a source of real hilarity and unexpected charm.
In Best Bits however, Snug is given a delicious twist, when he’s actually in the scene, he’s secretly brilliant at acting, but the moment he’s not performing, he reverts to being shy, quiet, mildly germophobic, and perpetually asthmatic. That contrast makes his confidence onstage all the more surprising and hilarious.”
Somers says what excites her about playing Snug is precisely that sincerity. “He isn’t trying to be funny, he’s trying to do his very best. That kind of innocence creates some of the richest comedy and invites the audience to laugh with him rather than at him. The role gives me permission to play boldly, physically, and with real abandon, which is always fun as an actor.”
Somers is a veteran performer with the ASC, having recently celebrated twelve years with the company where she has performed in over 25 productions across Australia and the UK
Somers describes her relationship with Australian Shakespeare Company as incredibly special saying that over the years, it has felt less like a job and more like a creative home. “There’s a rare trust within the company, a sense that you’re supported to take risks, to be playful, and to keep discovering new layers in work that’s hundreds of years old.
What I love most is the combination of tradition and joy. The ASC holds Shakespeare to a very high standard while never losing sight of the fact that theatre should be alive, fun, and very accessible. After twelve years, what keeps the fire in my belly burning is that no two seasons ever feel the same, new audiences, new characters, new energies. The work keeps evolving, and so do I.”
Somers studied Shakespeare in high school and again at acting university, and for a long time, she confesses, she never loved it. “I respected it, but I didn’t feel connected to it. It felt like a different language, something reserved for the highest scholars in robes and spectacles, rather than something I was allowed to play with or even understand.”
All of that completely changed, however, when she encountered Glenn Elston’s productions. “Glenn makes Shakespeare real, accessible, hilarious, and deeply human,” says Somers of ASC’s artistic director. “Suddenly the language wasn’t something to decode, it was something to inhabit and enjoy. Performing his work unlocked my love for Shakespeare because I finally understood that Shakespeare doesn’t write ideas, he writes humans. His characters are messy, contradictory, impulsive, loving, jealous, terrified, brave… all the things we still are.”
What challenges Somers as an actor is the muscularity of the language. “You have to be deeply specific; every word matters. There’s nowhere to hide. But when you crack it, the payoff is enormous. Shakespeare remains profoundly relevant because his themes, love, power, identity, fear, community, are timeless. We may live in a different world, but we’re still grappling with the same emotional truths.”
The ASC was formed over 40 years ago and continues to strive to make Shakespeare accessible to all. Somers believes that the success of the company boils down to their ability to remove the intimidation factor. “By performing outdoors, embracing humour, encouraging audience interaction, and prioritising storytelling over reverence, Shakespeare becomes something people experience rather than something they feel they need to ‘understand.'”
Somers says performing in an outdoor picnic setting takes away so much of the pressure that can sometimes exist for an audience member. “There’s no sense of needing to behave a certain way or “get it right.” It’s relaxed, welcoming, and genuinely inviting. People can arrive as they are, bring food, sit comfortably, laugh loudly, and respond instinctively. That ease creates a shared atmosphere of openness, where theatre feels less like a formal event and more like a communal experience, something to be enjoyed rather than decoded.”
Somers believes this is deeply significant because theatre should belong to everyone. “When people realise Shakespeare isn’t something to be afraid of, that it can be funny, emotional, cheeky, and alive, it opens the door to lifelong engagement with the arts.”
With outdoor performances come challenges and the biggest challenge is unpredictability. “Weather, ambient noise, passers-by, you’re sharing the space with the world. But that’s also the magic. You’re never performing in a vacuum,” says Somers.
But there are also pleasures in this performance space and, for Somers, the greatest is the immediacy.
“You feel the audience with you. Birds fly overhead mid-monologue, laughter ripples through the crowd in real time, it’s visceral, electric, and alive in a way indoor theatre sometimes can’t replicate.
Outdoor audiences are wonderfully uninhibited. They respond instinctively, laughing louder, reacting faster, sometimes even talking back. That immediate feedback loop sharpens the performance and keeps you completely present in a way that’s thrilling as an actor. There’s also something beautifully fitting about it, because Shakespeare’s plays were originally written to be performed outdoors, in shared spaces where audience and actors existed together in real time.”
When comparing a traditional stage to an outdoor environment, Somers says she loves both, but does conceded that there’s something incredibly special about outdoor theatre. “It feels communal, ancient, and shared, like storytelling in its purest, most human form. It truly marries nature and art.”
Another fabulously exciting notch on Somers’ resume is spending two years in China with Disney, portraying a variety of beloved princesses, most notably Queen Elsa and Princess Anna in the Frozen stage show.
“Becoming a Disney Princess was one of those surreal “how is this my life?” moments. It came through professional performance work and extensive training, and it demanded an entirely different skill set: stamina, precision, kindness, and an unwavering commitment to joy.
That role took me far from home. I lived in Hong Kong for six months and then Shanghai for two years, which was both an extraordinary adventure and a challenge in itself. Being away from family, navigating new cultures, and building a life overseas pushed me to grow not just as a performer, but as a person.
While in Shanghai, I performed as Elsa and had to learn the entire Frozen show in Mandarin. The training was incredibly rigorous, and the stakes were high, because if you lose your place on stage in a language you don’t actually speak, there isn’t a lot that can be done to save you. That experience taught me an enormous amount about discipline, focus, and trust in preparation.”
Somers says bringing Frozen to life for audiences was absolutely magical and a genuine dream come true. “Creating real wonder for children and families was the obvious delight, while sustaining that magic through heat, exhaustion, and long performance days was the challenge. Ultimately, it taught me professionalism at the highest level and reaffirmed the power of imagination, generosity, and wholehearted commitment in performance.”
As an actor, Somers is drawn to characters with heart, those who are flawed, funny, and deeply human. She loves telling stories that invite audiences to laugh and then unexpectedly recognise themselves. Comedy that reveals truth, and vulnerability that creates connection, that’s my sweet spot.
Somers has been drawn to comedy for as long as she can remember. “Even as a little girl, my instinct was always to make people laugh, and that impulse has never left me. There’s nothing that gives me greater joy than hearing an audience laugh, it feels immediate, communal, and profoundly human. Comedy roles, when done well, allow us to explore insecurity, courage, embarrassment, and love in ways that feel accessible and honest. They remind us that laughter isn’t a distraction from truth, it’s often the most direct path to it.”
If you loved A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this is the perfect show for you this summer! It’s Shakespeare unshackled, unplugged and loads of fun for the thespian or tradie in all of us. Audiences will encounter Hamlet as the MasterChef of Denmark, the Much Ado About Nothing boot scoot, King Lear in a hip-hop battle, an interpretive ballet rendition of Romeo & Juliet, and a musical version of Antony and Cleopatra – featuring Johnny Cash and an inflatable snake.
Says Somers, “If you think Shakespeare isn’t for you, this show is for you. Best Bits is joyful, fast-paced, playful, and full of heart. It’s theatre that doesn’t ask for prior knowledge, just an open heart and playful intent. Bring a picnic, bring your friends, and come laugh with us under the sky. It’s Shakespeare as it was always meant to be: shared, alive, and utterly human.”
playing till January 17
shakespeareaustralia.com.au
