Emilia - Othello, Act 4, Scene 3 Modern Title: “Marital Lockdown” Context Desdemona FaceTime calls her worldly and cunning friend, Emilia, for marital advice. Emilia, miffed at the state of her own home life, gives it in droves .... Bio Charlotte Holguin combines acting with her role as a mum of two young and energetic children and her professional career as a Barrister. She played ‘Lady Capulet’ in Imaginarium’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in the summer of 2019 and has undertaken roles both on the stage and screen with other companies for many years. Acting is Charlotte’s passion and respite from her other commitments. She simply loves it and dreams of a day when she can make it her full-time job! She finds Imaginarium’s positivity, drive and attention to detail the foundation of their fabulous productions and can’t wait to see what’s next!

Cordelia - King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1 Modern Title: “The Press Conference” Context After being threatened with disinheritance unless she competes for her father's affection, Cordelia takes a stand in a public broadcast to the nation. Bio With a background in dance, circus and fire performance, Holly has performed with variety entertainment companies at festivals, corporate and private events across the UK, all while working full-time as a marketing and communications professional for a science organisation – quite the contrast! Holly joined Imaginarium Theatre during The Tempest (2017), after befriending another cast member in a ballet class. Since then, her fire performance skills have become a regular feature in the company’s productions and she performed her first ever speaking role – in a Russian accent no less – in Treasure Island, which went to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018. She went on to live something of a childhood dream as a fiery faerie princess in Imaginarium Theatre’s devised walkabout production Willo the Wisp and the Fire Sprite (2018). Most recently, she played Benvolio in Romeo & Juliet (2019), and enjoyed having the opportunity to reinterpret a role traditionally cast as a man and explore the dynamics of mixed-gender friendship groups which echoed her own teenage years. In 2020, Holly began leading community circus and fire skills workshops for Imaginarium Theatre, and hopes to help people of all abilities develop their movement skills and enable them to perform at local events in the future. In her spare time, Holly is a keen writer and also enjoys documenting her day-to-day life through films and vlogs. She often participates in the Imaginarium Writers Collective, and recently led a community visual poetry project titled The Seven Ages of Care.

Richard III- Richard III, Act 3, Scene 2 Modern Title: “Bolingbroke Blues” Context Richard is a hungover, washed-up guy ruminating on his decline caused by a former friend and business partner called Bolingbroke who ruined him financially and slept with his wife. Bio Adam’s past roles include “Claude” in Desperate Measures (a modern adaptation of “Measure for Measure,” “Angela Merkel” in “The Europeans, Part Two,” “George Martin” in Love Me Do, “Paris” in Romeo and Juliet, “Mr Pigot” in Mr Pigot, “Rev. Polly” in Under Beechwood and “Tommy” in Tommy: A Tale from the Trenches. Besides acting, Adam has worked as a bartender, life model and genealogist. Adam also does an excellent impression of Peter O’Toole.

Juliet - Romeo & Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2 Stuck up a tree with Juliet: After a first meeting with Romeo at her family’s party and discovering he’s a Montague, Juliet has decided her love is worth a little family drama... Patricia is an aspiring actress on the cusp of beginning her drama school training. She first found her roots on stage as a dancer, and enjoyed such nominal roles as a jiving fried egg in her school’s nativity. Sadly those once in a lifetime roles have become a thing of the past and Patricia has moved onto roles in classical plays and musicals. Having played both a rapping witch in 2018’s Willo the Wisp and Juliet in Imaginarium’s summer tour, Patricia was looking forward to a summer of playing bewildered Alice in the intended 2020 tour of Alice in Wonderland. Despite the setbacks our industry is currently facing, she is keen to get back to performing as soon as theatres reopen, to learn and improve her craft.

Caliban - The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 2 Context In this speech Caliban demonstrates his anger at Prospero. The scene takes place whilst doing the garden

Lady Macbeth - Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1 Context In this scene Lady Macbeth is wrestling with her conscience about her role in the murder of Duncan . The setting for this is nighttime and is focused on excessive hand washing.

Oberon - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Scene 1 Context Oberon's belief that Titania is showing too much affection for Theseus has enlisted Puck to find a flower that will make Titania fall in love with the first thing she sees after waking. This section details how he will dispense the flower and thus achieve his aim. Set in a garden watering plants. Bio Kevin has been involved in drama as an actor off and on for nearly 25 years. During this time he has appeared in a wide variety of theatre productions ranging from Pantomime to Contemporary, fringe theatre. He has also explored Modern, Period, Classical and a touch of Renaissance. His Shakespeare credits are Caliban/Gonzalo- The Tempest, Lord Montague- Romeo and Juliet, Sir Toby Belch- Twelfth Night, Edward IV/Lord Stanley- Richard III and a production called Strolling Shakespeare where he performed extracts from Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor as Macbeth and Falstaff. Other possible highlights of his stage performances are Jacob Marley/Bob Cratchit, Candy in Of Mice and Men, Mr.Birling in An Inspector Calls Hunter/Sawkins/Didlum in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, this production he also directed and produced. In addition to stage performances Kevin has appeared in some small scale television and film roles and is currently enrolled in the ActUpNorth Liverpool branch. He is a qualified nurse graduating in 2003 and now works on what is named the Bank which is a system which allows flexibility on his working hours. He also graduated in a Trinity and Guildhall School of Music and Drama Acting Certificate in 2006 as part of their Open University opportunities. Aside from acting Kevin enjoys cycling, reading and watching films. He is excited and thankful to be involved with Bathtub Shakespeare and its concurrent Lather Up with Michael Corbidge project. Kevin is keen to learn and explore Shakespeare in both performance and theory.

Oberon - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1 Context Oberon is planning to take revenge on Titania for her disobedience to his wishes and instructs his servant to get a flower that will help him do just that. Bio Bhavik is a PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool, working towards a degree in Engineering and has a keen passion for theatre. Born and raised in Kenya, he has had the privilege of being part of regional plays, such as The Gods are Not to Blame by Ola Rotimi and Lion King. He particularly enjoys Shakespearean theatre, and therefore has been part of productions as a major character in Othello (as Othello) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (as Oberon). His most noteworthy accomplishment has been his part in the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2014, where the play was performed in local schools and theatres in Malaysia, as well as at the Djanogly Theatre in Nottingham, UK. Outside of theatre, Bhavik has enjoyed success as a national-level swimmer for Kenya, where he held records in his age category and won many accolades. To go further with his skill, he went on to complete 15km in March of 2019 to raise money for Children with Cancer. He currently speaks 5 languages fluently: English, French, Hindi, Swahili and Gujarati.

Macduff - Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 7 Modern Title: “Let Me Find Him” Context Macduff searches for Macbeth, the political opponent who arranged for the murder of his family in order to disrupt his political campaign. Haunted by the ghosts of his wife and children, Macduff swears to avenge them at any cost. Bio Growing up in Northern Ireland, Conor caught the theatre bug from his grandfather, who was an actor in local theatre and had a passion for ballroom dancing. Since moving to Liverpool, Conor has gained a Masters in Film Studies and began working as a Camera Trainee, and balances his professional ambitions behind the camera with his love of acting, using his spare time to perform with various theatre companies in the region. He first performed Shakespeare with Imaginarium Theatre in 2015 as part of the outdoor tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of Conor’s most memorable acting experiences was performing in two plays simultaneously at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018, one of which was Imaginarium Theatre’s Treasure Island, where he took the role of the villainous Israel Hands. It was one of the most exciting, rewarding and exhausting weeks of his life! More recently, Conor took the title role in the company’s magical woodland walkabout production Willo the Wisp & the Fire Sprite (2018) and played Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet (2019). His favourite and most challenging role to date was John Proctor in The Crucible, as he enjoys exploring dark, complex or emotionally conflicted characters.

Helena - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1 Context Contemplating how some are so much happier in love than others. A girl getting ready for a night out with a glass of wine rambling more and more about love as she becomes more drunk

Launce - Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 4, Scene 4 Modern Title: “Out, damned Spot (woof woof!)” Context Launce is out walking his beloved (albeit untrained) dog. He relays his account of a time when the dog embarrassed him whilst at a posh party with the result that Launce took the blame for his dog’s indiscretions and was punished for it. Bio Francesco is a lawyer by training but has recently put his legal career on hold whilst setting up and opening Imaginarium Bistro Francesco’s theatre credits with Imaginarium Theatre (formerly MATE Productions) include Bottom in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Touchstone in As You Like It, Alonso in The Tempest, Long John Silver in Treasure Island and Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. These productions have been in the main large scale outdoor performances in parks and gardens in and around Merseyside but the productions have also been performed at the RSC’s Dell in Stratford (to 1000+ audience members), the Unity Theatre Liverpool and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Francesco has also been heavily involved with all of Imaginaruim’s Walk-about productions and Pop-up-Shakespeare shows, taking a major role in each and truly enjoys the audience interaction that this form of performance allows.

Shylock - Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1 Modern Title: “Flesh” Context Bruised and embittered by a lifetime of rejection and hatred, Shylock applies his makeup before the bathroom mirror and prepares to face the hostile world—asserting his right to revenge and vowing to use it. Bio “I was mesmerised by Imaginarium’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2015, so the following year I spent the summer revelling in the forest as one of Duke Senior’s ‘merry men’ in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. I went on to play Caliban and Friar Laurence in The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet, respectively. Acting with Imaginarium has given me permission to play and escape into my imagination; it’s led to deep friendships; it’s given incredible opportunities for professional development. During the day I’m a writer, performer, choir director and web designer, and have been called many other things besides.”

Antonio - Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 1 Modern Title: Tristwch Dyn Context A man reflects on a sadness, the origin of which he cannot place. Bio Geraint is a Welsh actor, recently graduated from the Oxford School of Drama, and currently based in London. His first experience with MATE (now Imaginarium) was in the part of Alex in The Musicians, which played at the Liverpool Unity Theatre, and The Lowry in Manchester. His Shakespearean debut with MATE came in As You Like It, playing several of the supporting characters throughout. The play toured around Merseyside and then down to The Dell Stage in the Shakespearean capital of Stratford-Upon-Avon. With such fond memories of his time with MATE, and with connections and friendships sure to last a lifetime, Geraint is back for Imaginarium’s Bathtub Shakespeare performing the opening few lines of his favourite Shakespearean play.

Bio I have been with imaginarium, formerly MATE for 20 years. I’d always wanted to try my hand at acting so when an advert appeared in the local paper about joining a community drama group I went along. I’ve appeared in numerous plays and if I had to pick favourites it’d be Titania in ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ and The Nurse in ‘Romeo And Juliet’. We’ve performed in local theatres; The Edinburgh Festival; Stratford Upon Avon, and outdoors in local parks and gardens in Merseyside. Imaginarium is very much a part of the community and brings people from all walks of life together. As well as being an actor I am involved with making props; and planning behind the scenes. I am a civil servant by day, and have a very busy home life so I perform for the pure passion and enjoyment. For me it’s an escape to many different worlds. It’s a challenge balancing it all but it’s so rewarding. I’ve found my confidence has grown too which has helped with work presentations. I’ve suffered some traumatic experiences, and Imaginarium has helped me lift myself back up and been a therapeutic distraction. We have had professional practitioners in to teach us dance and fight sequences; singing; drumming; sewing and making props. We have also had a practitioner from The RSC, Michael Corbidge, give us sessions on all things Shakespeare. All these opportunities have been made available by our fantastic director Gaynor La Rocca. I have worked very closely with her in all the above and have thoroughly enjoyed the past 20 years. It’s been an amazing experience of fun, enjoyment, knowledge, learning and lifetime friendships. It has enriched my life more than words can say and I couldn’t imagine my life without it.

Toby Belch - Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 3 Modern Title: “Toby Belch’s Kitchen Delights” Context Bio Alex is a producer and poetry facilitator based in Liverpool, interested in the personal and societal impact of great art with social change at its core. He is currently Producer for Homotopia, the UK’s longest running LGBTQIA arts festival. When he’s not at Homotopia, he is the host and producer of the spoken word podcast, monthly event, and artist development programme A Lovely Word, based at the Liverpool Everyman. He also freelance produces the multi-award winning progressive brass band/theatre troupe Perhaps Contraption’s Nearly Human (“Completely extraordinary” BBC 6 Music), amongst other things. Recent past credits include: Stolen Lives (Princes Rd Synagogue, 2019-20), Julius ‘Call Me Caesar’ Caesar (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2019), In Our Times (Collective Encounters, 2019), Keep Pushing (Collective Encounters, 2018), and working as development manager for the ever wonderful Imaginarium Theatre UK.

Touchstone - As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 1 Modern Title: “As You ‘Zoom’ It” Context Touchstone threatens to kill William over his love interest in Audrey. Set as a Zoom meeting between Touchstone, Audrey and William in which Tom plays all the parts. Bio Tom’s acting career began aged 6 playing Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, however it would be almost another 50 years before he was to tread the boards again. His association with Imaginarium/MATE started after watching their wonderful performance of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in his home town of Prescot. Enthralled by the performance, he wanted to be more involved in what they did and it was not long before he was in the cast of Mother Goose around Easter time playing the Baker with a tray of tasty hot cross buns. The acting bug had then bitten him and that summer he appeared in their second Shakespeare production, As You Like It, playing no less than 3 characters. The outdoor tour of this production culminated with a performance in the Bard’s home town of Stratford-upon-Avon at the RSC Dell. A very proud moment for Tom. There then followed a couple of walkabout performances of A Fool’s Tale and Jungle Book, the lead role as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (seven performances in one day) and appearances in pop-up versions of Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet. The next summer outdoor tour saw Tom playing Stephano in The Tempest including his proudest moment of being applauded by a 500+ RSC audience at Stratford’s The Dell. The following year he appeared in Treasure Island playing two characters, Billy Bones and George Merry. This production included indoor performances at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool, an outdoor tour across Merseyside and finishing off with a week performing at the Edinburgh Festival. Another very proud moment for Tom. Tom has very much loved his time acting and performing and his only regret is that he wishes he’d resurrected his acting career a lot sooner after leaving primary school. He really looks forward to getting on the stage again in Imaginarium’s next exciting production, whenever that might be.

Context Last years Romeo and Juliet are reunited once more. This time their balcony is a zoom chat room - as our star-crossed lovers make their faithful vows to each other. Set in their homes after Romeo and friends crash the Capulets masked party. Kieran McCarthy-Hoare Bio Kieran is a Liverpool based actor, singer and theatre maker. He has worked with Imaginarium for the past 4 years as an Assistant Producer and Stage Manager - also appearing in almost every production since joining the company in 2014. A recent Drama graduate, Kieran loves all things theatre; especially when it’s the bard. Kieran is glad to be working in Bathtub Shakespeare, as it “offers a great window into the world of Shakespeare for anyone, but especially for those who may be new to these plays.”

Celia - As You Like It, Act 1, Scene 3 Modern Title: “Sleepover with Celia” Context After Rosalind is banished by her uncle Cecila hatches a plan to run away and disguise themselves in the forest of Arden during a sleepover. Bio Faye Draper is a Northwest based actor and creative director. She is currently represented by Alan Hamilton management. Faye has experience in both classical performances having enjoyed playing the role of Celia in As You Like It which was performed in the RSC outdoor venue. To more contemporary roles such as Marge Murray in the Laramie Project and Danielle in N.A.K.E.D. She is currently a creative director and writer for Succour Punch theatre LTD and is currently in the rehearsal process for Keep calm and camera on.

Valentine - Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Scene 4 Bio Ewan is an actor and writer based in London. He trained at the Oxford School of Drama and recent credits include The Nuclear Plays at the Drayton Arms theatre, Big at the Vaults festival and Reactor at the Tristan Bates theatre.

Phoebe - As You Like It, Act 3, Scene 5 Modern Title: “Facetime Phoebe” Context Phoebe is telling Silvius of her encounter with a certain ‘youth’.... Via a FaceTime call. Bio Helen is a BAFTA and International Emmy Award winning screenwriter, and playwright. Best known for ‘Pleasureland’ (Channel 4) and ‘Dustbin Baby’ (BBC One), Helen has also scripted for ‘Hollyoaks’ and ‘Call The Midwife’. Her series for CBBC, Hetty Feather, is now in its sixth series. She is Chair of the BAFTA Children’s Committee, a trustee for the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres and a patron for Imaginarium Theatre Company. Helen played Phoebe in Imaginarium's tour of ‘As You Like It’ in the summer of 2016, after a decades-long break from acting. Having last been on stage when she was at university, Helen loved her chance to return in front of an audience. Having worn a luscious, long wig for the role, it inspired her to grow her hair and her two teenage kids still ask her to ‘do the voice.’