The Royal Shakespeare Company has revealed details of its summer outdoor theatre programme on The Dell in Stratford.
There will be a range of student, community and semi-professional productions from June until August.
York Shakespeare Project starts the season with Twelfth Night on Saturday 7 June. The following day Staffordshire University’s drama and theatre arts graduates will perform The Winter’s Tale.
Carrying all their set, props and costumes on four bikes, The Handlebards will stage Macbeth in their innovative style on Saturday 14 June and The Comedy of Errors on Sunday 15 June.
Greater Fool turns to The Merry Wives of Windsor on Saturday 21 June.
On Saturday and Sunday, 28 and 29 June, Oxford Actors Company presents a selection of Shakespeare’s sonnets set against the backdrop of World War I in At War With Love at 12 noon while Birdiedoes stages Romeo and Juliet at 3PM.
Students and alumni from the University of Exeter who call themselves Midsummer Madness Theatre Company will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Saturday 5 July while the following day CL Rep Company produces a “fresh, shortened, contemporary version” from a female perspective of Hamlet (The Dark Lady of Denmark).
Shakespeare Young Company whose style is inspired by silent movies presents The Comedy of Errors on Saturday 12 July and Old Wives’ Tale, in which “the worlds of the supernatural and the sorcerer Sacrapant collide in an evocative night of magic”, the following day.
The Royal Naval Theatre Association puts its own slant on A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Saturday 19 July while the following day Ingenius Theatre stages Hal, a stripped-down version of Henry IV Part I, focusing primarily on the relationship between the Prince of Wales and Falstaff.
Gloucestershire Youth Players represents Prospero’s island as a huge patchwork quilt in The Tempest on Saturday and Sunday, 26 and 27 July.
Returning for a second year, The King’s Troupe from West Yorkshire weaves stilt-walking and a Greek chorus into Troilus and Cressida on Saturday and Sunday, 2 and 3 August, at 12 noon.
On Sunday 3 August at 3PM, the first youth theatre production by PurpleCoat—supported by Richard Wilson, Virgin Media and Stephen Fry—will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Project Shakespeare presents Hamlet at 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday, 9 and 10 August, while at 3PM on those days Shooting Stars Theatre Company delivers a cut-down version of Romeo and Juliet.
Using songs, music, sonnets and short scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, Shakespeare Live stages The Rain it Raineth Every Day on Saturday 16 August.
Combining puppetry, music and song, BMH Productions’ Twelfth Night will be performed on Saturday and Sunday, 23 and 24 August.
The programme ends with Dulwich Players’ presentation of The Comedy of Errors on Saturday, 30 August and Bilton Pantomummers’ look at The Tempest on Sunday 31 August.
The Dell is on the banks of the River Avon in Avonbank Gardens, near Holy Trinity Church. Entrance is free.
Times and other information can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company web site.