From slapstick beginnings to serious drama and back again, theatre-maker Matthew Emeny now leads one of the south west’s most exciting theatrical forces, The Production Garden. From 2–20 July, the company’s flagship event, The Garden Theatre Festival, returns to Bath with bold, joyful outdoor theatre for all ages. Words by Emma Clegg.
Theatre-maker Matthew Emeny began his theatre journey exploring raw, provocative themes, influenced by the confrontational style of in-yer-face theatre. One of his earliest works, Back Page, tackled the realities of human trafficking – an intense, research-driven project that marked a period of his creative exploration into socially urgent and often brutal subject matter.
But then came a turning point. A comment from his mum – “Can’t you just do something funny again?” – made him stop and reflect. Mums always know best, and that nudge unlocked a long-buried instinct to make people laugh, just like he did as a child filming slapstick gags on VHS. It was a moment of realisation that his natural comedic voice had been sitting quietly in the background, waiting for its moment.
The shift wasn’t about playing it safe, reflects Matthew. It was about returning to something authentic, working within the physical boundaries of comedy. And in many ways, comedy and horror aren’t so different. “Both rely on rhythm, surprise and tension,” Matthew explains. “You need a bonkers brain to dream up dark stuff, so it’s not surprising that it lends itself to comedy.”
Now, as the Creative Producer of The Production Garden, Matthew channels that energy into outdoor theatre experiences that are joyful, imaginative and irresistibly funny. From large-scale summer festivals to immersive Christmas events, the company is quickly becoming one of the most exciting creative forces in the south west.
After studying a BA and an MA at Bath Spa University, Matthew had originally focused on street theatre. He conceived what later became The Garden Theatre Festival as a one-off during lockdown, with six outdoor performances when socially distanced seating – using bamboo canes to separate family ‘bubbles’ – was the only option. It had to be outdoors because of the regulations around the pandemic, so the concept of the Festival was simply the only choice. In 2022, producer Josh Beaumont joined the team, helping to evolve the concept. In the years since, the festival has changed year by year in its form, emphasis and culture. There was the introduction of a stretch tent for partial cover, redesigning the site in the gardens of the Holburne to create a more relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere and shifting to exclusively in-house productions featuring local Bath creatives, as opposed to commissioning external companies This year, the festival debuts a custom-designed marquee with 350 covered seats, along with a box office, and an outdoor bar and restaurant to complete the experience.
Some people hate phones out in shows,
but for a lot of audiences filming is how they express joy
Despite originally feeling boxed in by being labelled an ‘outdoor theatre maker’, Matthew has found creative freedom through The Production Garden. The company now produces a wide range of work – indoor, outdoor, musical, and comedic. What sets the company apart is its flexibility and ambition. Produced by a core team of just three people, it operates more like a film production house, working across multiple genres, scales and formats. Their output is diverse, with productions ranging from a mid-scale touring comedy, Shoddy Detective, which pairs genre parody with high-octane physicality, echoing the physical traditions of Monty Python; to a Mumford & Sons tribute band currently on tour; to Parody of the Rings, a new Lord of the Rings comedy heading to Edinburgh Fringe; a new play Motorhome Marilyn starring Michelle Collins; and entertainment collaborations with Warner Hotels and Cunard Cruise Liners.
At the heart of it all remains the Garden Theatre Festival, the company’s flagship event with its creative home in Bath, in the Holburne Museum gardens. Looking ahead, the goal is simple: to keep growing, and to keep creating work that people want.
Each show is its own culture ecosystem, run from a master Excel spreadsheet. This is where the magic begins. Each tab in the spreadsheet holds meaning – performers, venues, travel logistics, meals, wages, ticket prices and prop costs. “It’s a bit like a lazy Susan in our brain – everything’s loaded up and spinning, but we can always see what’s on top”, says Matthew.
This chaos, however, is channelled. The team’s neurodiversity (Josh has ADHD and Matthew is dyslexic) is a superpower, enabling them to keep the plates spinning in their creative and production work. They embrace collaborative support and bring in detail-oriented colleagues as needed.
One of Matthew’s observations is about how theatre audiences have changed. Just like sharing restaurant meals on Instagram, today’s theatregoers want to see themselves, literally and figuratively, and phones are therefore often visible, indeed part of the experience. From social media engagement to capturing audience reactions, the marketing has adapted to reflect the current digital moment. “Some people hate phones out in shows, but for a lot of audiences filming is how they express joy”, says Matthew.
Despite the company’s rapid growth, it hasn’t forgotten where it originates. Matthew has built everything from scratch. Now, he’s committed to making space for new theatre-makers to do the same. The company regularly take on interns, graduates and volunteers, and believe that the health of the theatre sector depends on that openness. “So many people pull up the ladder and close the door. We leave it down, because the people who are better than us need to find a way up. The next people that are better than Josh and I need to find somewhere to climb so they can be on their way.”
Summer productions at the Holburne
This summer, the Garden Theatre Festival returns to the gardens of the Holburne Museum for two weeks, with productions of Romeo & Juliet, Pride & Prejudice and the children’s touring show The Secret Garden.
Following last year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the festival is returning to Shakespeare with Romeo & Juliet (2–10 July), a play beloved by audiences and perfectly suited to the company’s fast-paced, irreverent style. While often seen as a tragic love story, this production leans into the absurdity and youthful chaos of the plot, presenting it as a kind of ‘rom-com gone wrong’. With just four actors performing all the roles, the show features energetic multi-roleing, costume changes and a script trimmed down to two 45-minute acts, essentially Romeo & Juliet on speed.
Adapted and directed by Ed Viney, with music by Sam Freeman and oversight from Matthew (‘the ‘jokesmith’), the production celebrates the foolishness of young love with humour, heart and just the right amount of theatrical chaos.
Marking the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, Pride & Prejudice (11–20 July) is a playful tribute for Austen fans and Bath’s many literary tourists. The adaptation isn’t just a straightforward retelling – it’s framed as if Jane Austen herself is living across the street from the Holburne Museum, struggling to get her novel published. Encouraged to try playwriting, she enlists a troupe of local players to stage her new work in the pleasure gardens.
This imaginative set-up gives the production licence to have fun with the material. Expect classic outdoor theatre tropes such as actors swapping hats to change characters, comic timing and fourth-wall-breaking antics, like ‘that scene’ from the 1995 BBC version of Pride & Prejudice where a lake is represented by a glass of water, gleefully thrown in an actor’s face by an audience member. While staying true to the story, the adaptation draws more from film versions than the novel, balancing wit and romance with lots of laughter. It’s designed to be fun, accessible and entertaining.
This year’s children’s show, The Secret Garden, a re-imagining of the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett book, will be touring as well as appearing at the festival on 13 July. Created by Elouise Hare of The Plaudits, it brings the beloved children’s novel to life in a way that’s engaging for younger audiences while retaining the magic and heart of the original story. The production stays within the company’s trademark style: simple, inventive staging and strong storytelling. It promises to enchant children and adults alike. This isn’t just a story about a theatre company. It’s about a way of seeing the world: where chaos is creative fuel, where physical comedy meets fearless emotion, where spreadsheets and slapstick live side by side. It’s about building something that’s modern, generous, messy and alive, and captivating for the whole family. I for one am booking my weatherproof place among the deckchairs.
The Garden Theatre Festival, 2–20 July, Holburne Museum, Bath; gardentheatrefest.com