WHAT’S ON AT THE DELL, THE RSC’S OUTDOOR THEATRE IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
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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 Saturday 2 July, and continue until Sunday 28 August.
Now in its 14th year, The Dell is situated on the banks of the River Avon in Avonbank Gardens, near Holy Trinity Church. Entrance is free and no booking is required.
The Dell was launched as part of the Complete Works Festival in 2006, and has hosted more than 325 amateur theatre companies to growing audience numbers of all ages.
Members of the public can find out more at www.rsc.org.uk/thedell
For more press information, please contact:
Dean Asker
RSC Press Office
0778 9937759
dean.asker@rsc.org.uk
THE DELL LISTINGS
Saturday 2 July, 1 and 4pm
Sunday 3 July, 12 and 3pm
Twelfth Night
Performed by The Boaty Theatre Company
Approx. running time: 1 hour 20 minutes
A swashbuckling adventure of love, life and mistaken identity. Featuring a live pirate band, a fearsome, yet lovable Pirate Queen, a fool and lots of fun for all the family, The Boaty Theatre Company breathe new life into one of Shakespeare’s most-loved comedies.
The Boaty Theatre Company CIO is driven by the belief that the creative arts, theatre and live performance of all kinds have an incredibly positive and powerful effect. We serve our local community providing creative experiences, sessions and opportunities for people of all ages to engage with art, music, dance and theatre.
Sunday 10 July, 12 and 3pm
The Tempest, performed by Gobstoppers Shakespeare’s Circus
Approx. running time: 1 hour 30 minutes
A spellbinding open air production of The Tempest, set for the open air stage and performed by the vibrant Shakespeare Circus Theatre Company, the production is set to be a fun favourite for all the family with its cast of colourful characters, original musical score, madcap romps, high comedy and tender love.
Gobstoppers is a youth theatre in Hertfordshire formed in 1994. They aim to give a wide range of experiences for their 200 members from classical open air theatre to musicals. Gobstoppers Shakespeare Circus was created to provide opportunities for drama school graduates that have missed out on opportunities to perform due to the pandemic.
Saturday 16 July, 1pm and 3pm
Hamlet and Macbeth, performed by The BRIT School
Approx. running time: 1 hour per performance
Hamlet, 1pm
Hamlet is a teenager. He struggles to talk about his feelings, he contemplates the existence of God, is misunderstood by his girlfriend, distrusts his mother and stepfather, shouts about the injustices of the world, sits alone and thinks. A contemporary version that deals with suicide, mental health and murder.
Macbeth, 3pm
In Medieval Scotland war rages and Macbeth leads the Scottish Army to victory. When supernatural forces present him with a prophecy, he and his wife start down a dark path, questioning their options, their morality and their ambitions.
Sunday 17 July, 11.30am and 1pm
The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet, performed by The BRIT School Approx. running time: 1 hour per performance
The Merchant of Venice, 11.30am
Set in South Asia, we explore themes of arranged marriage and religious prejudice. Antonio, a prejudiced merchant, takes a loan from Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and Shylock demands a pound of his flesh.
Romeo and Juliet, 1pm
Two football teams, both alike in dignity, in fair Selhurst, where we lay our scene. A retelling of the most famous love story.
Saturday 23 July, 12pm and 3pm
Sunday 24 July, 12 and 3pm
Henry the Thorth, by Partners Rapt
Approx. running time: 1 hour 30 minutes
A fast-paced, comic abridgement of Henry IV Part 1, which mashes up Shakespeare’s original text with the characters and settings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A collision between Shakespeare’s historical masterpiece of rebel princes, drunken rogues and domineering kings and the multiverse of Marvel.
Partners Rapt are a theatre company comprised of University of Warwick and Shakespeare Institute alumni. We specialise in the comic abridgement and political reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s plays.
Saturday 30 July, 12pm and 3pm
Sunday 31 July, 12pm and 3pm
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by Sweet Sorrow Theatre
Approx. running time: 1 hour 30 minutes
The party to celebrate Duke Theseus’ wedding is fast approaching, but for some of his courtiers, it is the night before that shall haunt their dreams forever. With warring fairies, foolish mortals and a troop of rude mechanicals, this Midsummer’s eve promises to be one to remember. Featuring a cast of talents from Stratford-upon-Avon, Sweet Sorrow Theatre Company presents a fast-paced take on Shakespeare’s Classic Comedy, filled with laughs, mischief and magic.
Sweet Sorrow Theatre Company was founded in September 2020 as a company wishing to celebrate all that is weird, wonderful, good, bad and ugly about the world. Their debut show, 'The System', was live-streamed on Zoom in November 2020 and was subsequently recorded for the digital Brighton Fringe Festival in May 2021.
Saturday 6 August, 12pm and 3pm
Sunday 7 August, 12 and 3pm
Timon of Athens, performed by Rendered Retina
Approx. running time: 55 minutes
Ever heard of Timon of Athens? Neither had we! But do not fear, with instruments, hats and a big box on wheels, we have everything we need to put on the grandest retelling of Shakespeare's least-talked about play. With live music and original songs, 3 performers portray 18 characters and attempt to cement this forgotten gem as a bonified classic.
Rendered Retina are a multi-award winning, internationally renowned theatre company that create highly energetic, physical and playful performances suitable for the whole family.
Saturday 13 August, 12 and 3pm
Twelfth Night: The Acoustic Sessions by SAVVY Theatre Company
Approx. running time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Mis-placed love is at the heart of this play, as a storm of hidden (and not-so-hidden) feelings swarm together. Where the players project images of themselves into the world, in the hope of living the life they think they should have or desperately want. This lively adaptation involves live music throughout and plays with the outcomes of some of the story’s central characters.
SAVVY is a Croydon-based company, creating community through theatre. Their vision is to use the power of theatre to deepen understanding and empathy towards others and as a force to steer change and develop inclusive communities.
Saturday 20 August, 1 and 4pm
Sunday 21 August, 12 and 3pm
Romeo and Juliet Reloaded, performed by Shakespeare Reloaded
Approx. running time: 1 hour 30 minutes
A punchy, upbeat reimagining of Shakespeare’s original text, set in West Berlin in the late 1980s.
Shakespeare Reloaded is an international theatre ensemble based in Germany. Boldly reshaping iconic plays into fearless, ferocious productions that speak to a contemporary audience.
Saturday 27 August 1 and 4pm
Sunday 28 August, 12 and 3pm
The Merchant of Venice, performed by Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group
Approx. running time: 1 hour 30 minutes
What would you trade to preserve a special relationship? Bassanio plans to regain his wealth by marrying Portia of Belmont and asks his friend Antonia for help, but his money is tied up in trade, so together they strike a deal with Shylock. Bassanio wins his bride, but Antonia’s ships flounder, and he must, by law, pay her bond. Will Portia be able to save her new husband’s dearest friend?
Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group has been putting on shows for over 60 years, and has earned an excellent reputation for high production standards, and for producing a wide and interesting variety of shows ranging from classics, to modern, to brand new local writing.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates world class theatre, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and of live performance, throughout the UK and across the world.
We believe everybody’s life is enriched by culture and creativity. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. Our transformative Learning Programmes reach over half a million young people and adults each year, and through our Placemaking and Public Programme we create projects with and for communities who have not historically engaged with our work. We are a leader in creative immersive technologies and digital development.
We have a proud record of innovation, diversity and excellence on stage and are determined to grasp the opportunity to become an even more inclusive, progressive, relevant and ambitious organisation.
We are committed to being a teaching and learning theatre – in which we create world class theatre for, with and by audiences and theatre makers of all ages. We provide training for emerging and established theatre makers and arts professionals, for teachers and for young people. We share learning formally and informally. We embed training and research across our company, work and processes.
We recognise the climate emergency and work hard to embed environmental sustainability into our operations, creative work and business practice, making a commitment to continually reduce our carbon footprint.
Keep Your RSC supports our mission to create theatre at its best, unlocking Shakespeare and transforming lives. Thousands of generous audience members, trusts and foundations and partners supported Keep Your RSC in 2020 and, alongside a £19.4 million loan from the Culture Recovery Fund, we are thrilled to be welcoming audiences back. It will take time to recover, to reopen all our theatres, and many years to repay the loan and the support and generosity of our audiences is more important than ever. Please donate at rsc.org.uk/donate