The Royal Shakespeare Company has extended its pop-up programme of outdoor performances to run throughout September in the Dell Gardens, Stratford.
RSC Snapshots will be staged at 1 and 3PM from Friday until Sunday each week, taking inspiration from both Shakespearean texts and the works of “some of the most promising new writers of today”.
The performances will be delivered by actors from the RSC's postponed productions of The Winter's Tale and The Comedy of Errors and will be directed and curated by a different company member each week.
RSC deputy artistic director Erica Whyman and Aaron Parsons are curating The Truth and Nothing but the Truth, combining extracts from Shakespeare with excerpts from a selection of new works produced by the RSC including Can Dundar's #wearearrested, Anders Lustgarten's The Seven Acts of Mercy and Alice Birch's implosive Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. It is being held from Friday 4 until Sunday 6 September.
This will be followed by a celebration of music, poetry, songs and sketches from 11 until 13 September as members of the RSC acting company gather for an open-mic afternoon with a difference.
Hal Chambers, assistant director of the RSC's postponed production of The Comedy of Errors, invites audiences to revel in the royal history of Kings and Queens past from 18 until 20 September.
RSC actors Kemi Bo-Jacobs and Assad Zaman will curate a celebration of new writing produced under lockdown to wrap up RSC Snapshots from 25 until 27 September.
RSC artistic director Gregory Doran said, “our programme of outdoor Shakespeare has proved incredibly popular with audiences throughout August. I’m delighted to see Stratford audiences embracing this unique programme of socially-distanced, outdoor theatre and look forward to a time when we can welcome them back to our buildings to share the experience of live theatre with them.”
Performances are on a first-come, first served basis, with space for up to eight household groups (maximum 6 people each) as well as some standing spaces.