In Conversation with Cassandra Hart and Rob Doyle | William Shakespeare's Reservoir Dogs
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
In today's Backstage Blog, we spoke to Cassandra Hart (Producer, Sir White) and Rob Doyle (Producer, Director) from William Shakespeare's Reservoir Dogs, coming to Theatre Works early next month!
Q: Welcome back to Theatre Works! Many of our regulars will remember Shakespeare Aliens in 2022, what has The Ghostlight League been up to since then?
What a joy our 2022 Mullet Fest season was! Hi to everyone who joined us back then! Theatre Works has changed a little since then; and so have we! For starters; we became The Ghostlight League! We took Aliens out again for a Melb Fringe Season, and then over to Adelaide for Adelaide Fringe, with the support of the Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund. We developed the second show in the Trilogy, 'Shakespeare Ghostbusters', took that one out for a couple of spins here in Melbourne, including Comedy Festival 2024; then again over to Adelaide Fringe (2025) (a big thankyou to the Artist Fund again for making that possible). We presented the original season and Melbourne Premiere of William Shakespeare's Reservoir Dogs in 2024. We also premiered Rob's solo show 'Shakespeare's Fool' in 2025 and since then it's been all systems go with preparations for our TW season in August. Plus because we just can't help ourselves - we are planning out our next Trilogy we plan to present across 2026 and into early 2027 - we won't say too much on that yet though - we really oughtta focus on the show at hand!
Q: So were you mid-Reservoir Dogs rewatch when the prince of pentameter struck you? Were you sitting in a production of Lear when you found yourself pondering who might be the rat? Or was it something else entirely?
After starting work on our second show (Shakespeare Ghostbusters) we came up with the idea of turning our Shakespeare Pop-Culture Mash-Up shows into a trilogy. With each show representing one of Shakespeare's 3 genre's, History (Shakespeare Aliens), Comedy (Shakespeare Ghostbusters) culminating at our end point; our Tragedy (William Shakespeare's Reservoir Dogs). We were aware of Steven Hopley's script, through our friends over in Orlando, who performed their version of it at Orlando Fringe in 2021 (after Hopley's World Premiere of it in Sydney 2014). It seemed like the perfect choice for a Shakespearian Tragedy; so we reached out for the rights; and the rest as they say is history... or Tragedy as it were.
Q: For audiences who have never experienced a Ghostlight League show before, what Bard to Tarantino ratio might they expect when they come to see William Shakespeare's Reservoir Dogs?
The show follows Tarantino's 1992 film extremely closely; with the storyline not being linear. Audiences can expect to be taken on a journey into the past and present as they follow the plight of our Dogs and their downfall. Hopley has written a script that captures the essence of Tarantino's film and dialogue, but has turned it into Old English with an abundance of Shakespeare's works and words peppered throughout. We are also set in Elizabethan England instead of 1990's Downtown LA. We'd say its a pretty even blend of Tarantino to Shakespeare on this one!
Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?
That it works! We've always been asked why movies and why Shakespeare; and our answer has always been, "Well why not?" But with this one specifically; the way Tarantino wrote the original film lends itself perfectly to being adapted into a stage show, and more than that, into a Shakespearian Tragedy; Hopley had the knack to do just that.
Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your rehearsal process so far?
This is a return season for us in many ways; a return for the show after we presented it for the first time in 2024 at St. Martins to rave reviews; and a return to the Theatre Works stage for the first time since our very first production as a company. It feels like a homecoming of sorts and the perfect way to finally put our Shakespeare Pop- Culture Trilogy to bed. At the end of our run in 2024, we didnt think we would be presenting this one again. Our two previous shows had 3 turns out each across Melbourne and over to Adelaide Fringe; but this one seemed to be a one and done. It's the biggest of the 3 shows in terms of sets and costumes and not easily tourable, so we kinda said goodbye to it; even though it felt far from being done. So when we threw our hat in the ring for a TW season and got the email saying we'd been programmed; it's safe to say we were elated. Our first rehearsal back was electric; having our team back in the same space again was pure joy; and when we heard our band playing our old familiar favourites - giddiness and goblin energy!
William Shakespeare's Reservoir Dogs plays at Theatre Works 5 - 15 August
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