Lancaster's Dukes Theatre may be taking a year off from their annual outdoor promenade play, but the city's Williamson Park will still be ringing to the sounds of several other productions. Throughout August there will be adaptations of Shakespeare's Henry V and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Roald Dahl's The Twits, Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore and E Nesbitt's The Railway Children.
First up next Wednesday and Thursday outdoor theatre specialists Illyria perform Shakespeare's Henry V with all its patriotism, pageantry and poetry. It will be presented, as originally written, on a stage inspired by those of the mediaeval touring troupes.
The following week the whole family can enjoy matinee performances of Roald Dahl's The Twits, performed by the same company.
Illyria promises a slimy, sticky, revoltingly-funny show, from the most popular children's author in the world on August 7 and 8.
And they're back again on Sunday August 12 with the comic opera, HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan, faithfully performed by a reduced cast on a nautical set. The opera cheerfully mocks such Great British institutions as class, patriotism and the Royal Navy.
On August 15 and 16, literary classic The Railway Children has been adapted into an award-winning performance by Heartbreak Theatre Company.
Mysteriously separated from their father, Bobbie and her family relocate to Yorkshire.
Wrapped in nostalgia, this show delivers the soul of this timeless classic.
The busy outdoor theatre season in Williamson Park concludes with Shakespeare's best-loved romantic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Chapterhouse Theatre Company brings together star-crossed lovers, playful fairies and raucous travelling players in what should be one of the most frolicsome evenings of the summer.
Box office: 01524 33318 or www.lancaster.gov.uk/park-tickets