WHAT’S ON AT THE DELL - THE RSC’S OUTDOOR THEATRE IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
LISTINGS INFORMATION FOR PERFORMANCES BETWEEN SUNDAY 4 JUNE AND SUNDAY 27 AUGUST 2017
During the summer month weekends, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s outdoor theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, The Dell, will play host to a range of lively student, community and semi-professional productions. Performances kick off on Sunday 4 June, and continue until Sunday 27 August.
The Dell is situated on the banks of the River Avon in Avonbank Gardens, near Holy Trinity Church. Entrance is free.
Members of the public can find out more at www.rsc.org.uk/thedell
For more press information and images from some of the productions, please contact:
Dean Asker
RSC Press Office
01789 412660
dean.asker@rsc.org.uk
Sunday 4 June, 2pm (1 hour)
Much Ado About Nothing
The Ragtags
A company made up of current RSC actors, RSC staff members and students from the University of Birmingham combine forces to tackle Shakespeare's captivating Rom-Com Much Ado About Nothing. With less than a week to rehearse, and only one performance, you'd be an ass to miss out!
Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June, 12noon (1 hour 30 minutes)
Twelfth Night
Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June, 3pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Merely Theatre
Two of Shakespeare’s classic comedies performed by one company in a unique stripped-back style, characterised by energy, pace and crystal clear storytelling. A genderblind company of five actors perform the plays with endless resourcefulness and invention, to bring Shakespeare’s most colourful characters to life.
Saturday 17 June, 12noon (1 hour 30 minutes)
Romeo and Juliet
Three Inch Fools
Five actors, with all manner of musical instruments, present an inventive take on Shakespeare’s infamous story of whirlwind romance and bitter tragedy. Taking Shakespeare back to its lively roots and rustic nature, this travelling troupe of musical players presents a thoroughly entertaining and accessible performance in the great outdoors.
Sunday 18 June, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
Twelfth Night
Sun & Moon Theatre
As the First World War wages on, those back at home in Illyria try to forget, seeking distraction and companionship. When refugee twins from Messaline are shipwrecked and separated, they shake up this grief-stricken community. A vibrant ensemble production enriched with wit, passion and live music.
Saturday 24 June, 1.30pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
The Comedy of Errors
Pinch-Punch Theatre
Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio pack up and leave home to find their long-lost twin brothers. They soon find a sleepy market town to be full of secrets, lies and mayhem.
Saturday 1 July, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
Much Ado About Nothing
FOH Theatre Company
Old friends will be reunited, new loves may develop, and with the merry quarrellers, Beatrice and Benedick, together again, there are sure to be fireworks. With the local watchmen keeping an eye on proceedings, what could possibly go wrong? Sit back, relax, and enjoy the party.
Sunday 2 July, 12 noon and 3pm (50 minutes)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Little Lute Productions
Using music to explore the larger-than-life characters in a charming and quirky fashion, from a cymbal crashing Titania, to a harmonica playing Puck, we transport you to the magical world and remind them that ‘When words fail, music speaks’.
Saturday 8 July, 11.30am and 3pm (1 hour)
Henry V
Eris Theatre Company
Join our Chorus as they guide you through the events of Henry V, using puppetry, visual and physical theatre to conjure up the imagery of the battlefields of France and the comical wooing of the Princess Katherine.
Saturday 8 July, 1pm (45 mins)
Richard III
The Brit School
In a world reeling from the election of Donald Trump, this new version of Richard III asks questions about democracy, dictatorship and the rise of right wing values. The ensemble cast acts as a baying mob, disenfranchised by Richard’s hair-brained policies as he swaggers through the play.
Saturday 8 July, 1.45pm (45 mins)
Hamlet
The Brit School
A young person is staring at the abyss. Locked in his bedroom, in her mind, in his turmoil, in her grief. Around him his friends, her mother, his girlfriend, her step dad are worried, scared and scarred by this lost and angry poet. A cast of 20 fast and furious teenagers rip through this classic play turning it into something rich and strange.
Sunday 9 July, 12noon and 3.30pm (1 hour 10 minutes)
Shakespeare Shuffle
The Rose Company
A three dimensional, interactive, living jukebox of Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits, including Richard III, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Mechanicals from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and many, many, more. With its family friendly, fun feel, it's perfect for a summer's afternoon in The Dell. Expect poetry, history, tragedy and lots of comedy!
Sunday 9 July, 1.30pm (45 mins)
mac (Beth)
The Brit School
The women’s march, London 2017. The Skirt Club are out in full force protesting for equality, but within this feminist action group (mac)Beth wants to rise to the top, and it seems like nothing can stop her. A re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy inspired by the feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot.
Sunday 9 July, 2.15pm (45 mins)
Measure for Measure
The Brit School
It’s 1989, the Second Summer of Love, and everyone is enjoying the euphoric acid house music filling the clubs and warehouse raves. But as the Duke decides to take his leave from the city his deputy Angelo takes a hard line on the partygoers and their 24 hour party lifestyle.
Saturday 15 July, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 15 minutes)
Antony and Cleopatra
The King’s Troupe
Located between the Mediterranean and the Middle East, this play is full of dance and music. The King’s Troupe has invited newly arrived Syrian families to join their company taking on their cultural influences in this rich and extravagant play together.
Sunday 16 July, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 15 minutes)
The Tempest
The Gobstoppers
A physical and timeless production by a band of young players between the ages of 14 and 16 years. This take on The Tempest sees the characters on a road of self-discovery on a mystical island created by strange magical elements. You will truly feel as if you have been on a journey to a strange place.
Saturday 22 July, 12noon and 3.30pm (1 hour)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Collective
A riotous, irreverent, gender-flipped adaptation of Shakespeare’s most magical comedy. Four runaway lovers unwittingly wander into a dispute between the King and Queen of the fairies, and, as if that wasn’t enough, a troupe of terrible actors are trying to rehearse a play. What could possibly go wrong?
Sunday 23 July, 12noon (1 hour 30 minutes)
The Tempest
MATE Productions
A storm, a ship wreck, an enchanted island, a magician, a pair of lovers, a tale of treachery, revenge, love and forgiveness with a large helping of the supernatural. Original live music and a multi-generational ensemble of actors bring one of Shakespeare’s final and most magical plays to life.
Sunday 23 July, 3.30pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
As You Like It
Cropedy Harlequins
Focusing on the themes of exile, trust and loyalty, this production features live music and dancing, set in a timeless world.
Saturday 29 July, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour)
This Isle in Mine
The Oratory Foundation
Featuring Caliban, Prospero, Ariel and Miranda and using Shakespeare’s original text, Caliban is lyrical in his belief that ‘this island’s mine’. The Oratory Foundation, from Trinidad and Tobago, present a story that explores the island, witchcraft and the colonial, as the drama illuminates co-existence and dominance.
Sunday 30 July, 12noon and 4pm (2 hours)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Gloucestershire Youth Players
Be prepared to be whisked through court and wood, and back again, at a fair pace as the UK’s only young company performing solely Shakespeare invites you to come on a journey of magic and mystery, of love and loss, of discord and harmony.
Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 August, 12noon (1 hour 15 minutes)
The Sonnets
PurpleCoat Productions
Hear the story of Shakespeare's life through the magic of his sonnets. The PurpleCoat Young Actors Company offer an adventurous and expansive sweep through every moment of Shakespeare's life through his own words, so join them for an ambitious celebration of the man and his words.
Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 August, 3pm (1 hour)
Shakespeare Slam
Bloomin Arts
In just one hour there will be eight plays, 32 characters, 62 deaths and a little audience participation. Tragedy, comedy, love, mistaken identity, betrayal and murder, there will be elements of fantasy, flippancy and fainting in this joyous mash up of all things Shakespearean!
Saturday 12 August, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 15 minutes)
Bottom’s Dream
Shakespeare Live
Nick is an amateur actor of the kind we’ve all met, blessed with rather more enthusiasm than talent. In a fevered and chaotic dream, Shakespeare Live presents the outlandish confusion of Bottom’s story - the stuff of fantasy, and in the end ‘No more yielding but a dream…’
Sunday 13 August, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 15 minutes)
Macbeth
Arclight Drama Studio
Tempted by the prophecies of mysterious creatures, Macbeth’s ambition to be King of Scotland leads him into a nightmarish world of evil, deceit and murder. Monstrous actions run rampant as he and Lady Macbeth lose themselves to unstoppable drives of savagery and political atrocity.
Saturday 19 August, 12noon (1 hour 30 minutes)
As You Like It
Oxford University Drama Society
Rosalind and Celia, best friends and cousins, escape from the violent and repressive kingdom of Duke Frederick in search of a better life in the Forest of Arden. Oxford University Dramatic Society bring you an Arden of light and dark where raucous comedy and biting satire jostle for position.
Saturday 19 August, 2pm and 4pm
Sunday 20 August, 12noon and 3pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
Twelfth Night: A Gender Experiment
Trade & Traffic Theatre Company
A cast of twelve professional actors- six women and six men- present four versions of Twelfth Night in rep; all male, all female, cast play own gender, cast play opposite gender. Come and explore this comedy full of disguise, romance and revenge. Pick your favourite gender combination or join us for all four!
Saturday 26, 1pm and Sunday 27 August, 12noon (1 hour)
Twelfth Night
Saturday 26, 4pm and Sunday 27 August, 3pm (1 hour)
The Tempest
BMH Productions
Shipwrecks, magic, monsters and mistaken identities. The same company of actors present two one-act versions of Shakespeare’s most famous seafaring plays. With live music, puppetry, dancing and more, expect a production that is fresh, fun and vibrant.