Two performances of Ben Jonson’s Love’s Welcome at Bolsover are to be staged at Derbyshire’s Bolsover Castle.
Love’s Welcome at Bolsover was the final masque composed by Jonson. It was performed in 1634, three years before the poet's death, and published in 1641.
Bolsover Castle has reopened after a major project to recreate its interior and garden as they were in the 1630s.
In 1634, King Charles I and his queen Henrietta Maria visited Bolsover and were entertained with Love’s Welcome at Bolsover, written for the occasion.
Dr Nicola Stacey, senior properties historian at English Heritage, worked with James Knowles, Professor of Renaissance Literature and Culture at Brunel University, to explore the significance of the royal visit to Bolsover.
The play will include roles for a number of Brunel University theatre students and the audience will be invited to take part in extravagant revels at the end of the evening.
Dr Stacey said, “this has been a very successful collaboration with Brunel University and we’re really excited to have our visitors taking on this important role in the production—a key means for us to understand more about the significance of the royal visit and the political and social context in which it was performed.”
Love’s Welcome at Bolsover will be staged on Saturday and Sunday, 26 and 27 July. Tom Betteridge, Professor of Theatre at Brunel University, directs.
Further information is available at the English Heritage web site.