Shakespeare in the Garden: as you like it

‘As You Like It’: Shakespeare in the Garden, 2021. Vicky Gaskin (extreme right, in the purple trousers), is co-founder of the Open Bar theatre company Photos: Rashmee Roshan Lall

We’ve been to the theatre…in the garden. Not our garden, but one that belongs to our local inn. Not just any old inn, but a really really old one. The Pilot Inn, which was built in the early 1800s, is considered the oldest (or at least one of the oldest) buildings on the Greenwich peninsula.

Anyway, it’s pretty nice and obviously run by some clever people. For the past few years, The Pilot Inn has had the smart idea of becoming a purveyor of cultural sustenance — along with the food and drink it normally serves up. I’ve been to ‘Shakespeare in the Garden’ two years running at The Pilot and can attest that the pandemic has given this outdoor theatre a unique piquancy.

For those who do not know, Shakespeare in the Garden has been around for a decade. A female-led theatre company Open Bar takes plays all over Engla…