Barnstable High Graduate Continues Career in Theater

By high school, Neil McGarry had already fallen for Shakespeare. He loved the words, the way they tripped off his tongue and sounded in the air.

One day in English class, after nearly memorizing every line at home, McGarry performed the monologue "All the World's a Stage."

"It was one of those moments when everything stops," McGarry said. "It was such a gift, such a profound gift."

McGarry, a Barnstable High School graduate and now veteran actor, is working with several colleagues to bring a similar sense of intimacy and impact to theatre on the South Shore.

The Bay Colony Shakespeare Company launched in January with Burbage, in which McGarry received rave reviews for his depiction of Elizabethan-era actor Richard Burbage. As he recounted his storied career playing Othello, Richard III and others for Shakespeare's troupe, McGarry "lives and breathes the character" just inches from the audience, the Barnstable Patriot said in its review.

McGarry, the company's founder and Artistic Director, will play the title roll in the company's modern take on Hamlet, running June 13 through June 30 at the open-air Laura’s Center For The Arts at the Emilson YMCA in Hanover.

Ross MacDonald, an actor and creative associate, said The Bay Colony Shakespeare Colony will provide accessible theatre for people on the South Shore who may not be used to connecting so personally with a performance. The company's motto is "language. community. presence. riches."

Christopher James Webb will direct McGarry, his wife Jessica Webb as Ophelia, Ronald Lacey as Claudius and The Ghost, and Omar Robinson as Horatio. The clothes are modern and the themes universal, MacDonald said.

"It is a play of our times," addressing morality, love and war, he said. "The audience for a moment needs to forget everything in their lives and come into our world."

To reach that level of connection with its audience, the company is combining a smaller-scale venue – the actors will perform in Hanover without microphones or extensive set pieces – with the many decades of experience among its members.

McGarry trained in New York at the National Shakespeare Conservatory before going on to perform throughout the Northeast and in television on such shows as Showtime's Brotherhood and All My Children. Webb has directed and acted in dozens of shows throughout the country and is currently a faculty member at the Boston Conservatory.

MacDonald is a graduate of the London Academy of Performing Arts and a UK Army veteran. He moved recently to Braintree with his wife Alison, and in addition to his acting and directing experience, is a committed educator. MacDonald has worked at Roxbury Latin, BC High and other area schools and plans to make education a primary part of the company's mission.

A youth company is in the works, MacDonald said, and next year Bay Colony will begin working with military veterans, providing a variety of jobs within the company on upcoming projects.

Toward the end of this year the company will put on A Christmas Carol, and is developing a take on Treasure Island as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"We want the South Shore to say this is our company, this is our theatre, these people care about us," MacDonald said.

For more about The Bay Colony Shakespeare Company and to purchase tickets to upcoming shows, go to www.baycolonyshakespeare.org. Or email baycolonyshakespeare@gmail.com or call 917-670-1184.