The 2011 Bristol Shakespeare Festival has announced twelve productions
from 27th May to 30th July in various locations across the city.
27th May
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Lord Chamberlain's Men
Brandon Hill Bowling Green
All-male cast
30 June - 2 July
Romeo and Juliet
GB Theatre Company
Blaise Castle Dairy Gardens
Neil Sheppeck of Love&Madness directs
6-9 & 14-15 July
Lear 1864 - Trail of Tears
Full Tilt
Ashton Court Gardens
It is 1864, during the American Civil War, and newly retired General
Lear decides to divide his mammoth estate, once belonging to the Navajo
Nation, amongst his three daughters. This act sets in motion a great
storm of truth, consequences, dispossession, and loss which Lear must
face head on. Haunted by his actions and his horrific past made present
- Lear discovers a painful truth among the natives he once deceived.
15 - 16 July
Macbeth
Oddsocks
The Dairy Gardens, Blaise Castle Estate
Shakespeare's darkest of dark tragedies is given the Oddsocks treatment
and as Oddsocks can make a comedy out of anything, be prepared for
spine tingling, eye popping, rib tickling hilarity - lots of witches!
lots of laughs!. Expect this battle against good and evil to be a
physically exciting spectacle based on the bard's original text of
course, complete with power hungry rulers, mad wives, sword fights,
wandering stilted witches, walking trees, blood, wigs, music, dancing
and lots of audience participation.
20 - 21 July
The Taming of the Shrew
Heartbreak Productions
Ashton Court Estate
Heartbreak celebrates its 20th anniversary with a revival of its first
outdoor production.
20 - 23 July
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Knives Out at The Folk House
Bristol Folk House Garden
While staying true to Shakespeare's text, this production is set in
the magical world of early cinema, playing with darkness and light
in a world where not everything is black and white.
20 - 23 July & 27 - 30 July
Julius Caesar
Thrice Three Muses
Amphitheatre at Boiling Wells
A re-imagination set in the mythical Amazonian tribes. When the god-like
Caesar is offered the crown of Rome, the warlike women of the state
turn on their leader - in a bold move which results in civil war.
20 - 23 July
Twelfth Night
Hecate Theatre
St. Alban's Church Hall
Hecate Theatre's production relocates the play to a 1930s nightclub,
owned by the play's Count Orsino and features club singers, gangsters,
knife-fights, innovative staging (performed in a ¾ round) and
gorgeous costumes. The production will include a live band to perform
jazz renditions of the play's songs and the cast is all-female.
27 - 28 July
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Wells Community Youth Theatre
Alma Tavern Theatre
With Puck as our anarchic conductor joining an Oberon and Titania
straight out of Brief Encounter, the cast will travel with
you through this tale of mischief and love - with a healthy helping
of dancefloor classics and bad dancing!
29 - 30 July
Hamlet
Alma Tavern Theatre
Moved into the heart of England, this proeduction focuses on the story
of a young boy, locked in grief following the death of his father,
and his struggle with the arrival of a new man in his mother's life.
27 July
Twelfth Night
Taking Flight Theatre Company
The Dairy Garden at Blaise Castle Estate
A promenade, production with live music and supported with British
Sign Language throughout. Accessible for wheelchair users.
28 July
Twelfth Night
Illyria
Bristol Zoo
Following a shipwreck, Viola is washed ashore in Illyria, a country
where everything is illogical, delirious, and completely topsy turvy.
It could all end in tears - even if most of them are of laughter.
