Nearly 200 groups applied to the Royal Shakespeare Company to take part in the UK’s biggest amateur theatre project, Open Stages.
Eighty-six groups have now been chosen to create a production in their own venue.
The most popular Shakespeare’s play to be performed is Macbeth, with seven companies producing it. There will be six versions of Twelfth Night while there will be six modern plays inspired by Shakespeare and 16 new plays inspired by Shakespeare and written or devised by the amateur companies involved.
Serving members of the Royal Air Force will perform Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest will be produced in a quarry in Durham and Leicester University students will undertake Richard III in Leicester Cathedral where the king’s remains are expected to be buried.
The amateurs will take to the stage in a number of venues including 35 theatres, ten village halls, six castles, six pubs, five churches, two country houses, a warehouse, a barn, a coffee shop and a graveyard.
More than 2,500 people—the oldest is 80 and the youngest eight—will take part and the project begins in earnest on Saturday 28 September when all 86 directors will come together for the first and only time in Stratford for two days of skills workshops led by RSC practitioners.
RSC Open Stages producer Ian Wainwright commented, “The RSC is once again excited to continue to collaborate with some of the million amateur theatre makers in the UK.
“The RSC understands the skill, commitment, energy and passion it takes to make theatre happen.
“We therefore have a huge respect for those DIY, grassroots theatre makers who create theatre in their spare time, often on very limited resources.
“Open Stages looks to share some of the processes, techniques and ideas of professional theatre making while allowing the RSC to learn about and be inspired by the work of people with a real passion for the craft of theatre.”
Open Stages is the springboard for Dream16, a nationwide tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on 23 April 2016.
The production, which opens in Stratford, will be co-produced with partner theatres and amateur companies in 12 nations and regions of the UK.
In every location, Bottom and the rude mechanicals will be played by a local amateur group and Titania’s fairy train by local schoolchildren.
For more information go to www.rsc.org.uk/openstages.