Outdoor theatre in Kent
As you catch some rays during the hot summer, be entertained
by the many outdoor theatre productions taking place all over the
county. Chris Price has the rundown of where to pitch your picnic
tables for some thespian therapy.
Hamlet
Globe Theatre Productions
Groombridge Place Gardens, Tuesday, May 24 to Thursday, May
26
The fifth year of regional touring from Shakespeare’s Globe
brings the bard’s most intellectually draining tragedy to Kent. It
tracks the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, as he battles with rage and
madness, striving to exact revenge on his uncle Claudius for
killing his father, the King of Denmark, and then incestuously
marrying his mother Gertrude. It is directed by the Globe’s
artistic director Dominic Dromgoole with rising star Joshua McGuire
in the title role. Joshua appeared in Posh at the Royal Court in
2010, and will co-star in the new BBC2 series The Hour with Ben
Whishaw and Dominic West.
www.shakespearesglobe.com
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Illyria Theatre Company
Hever Festival Theatre at Hever Castle, Edenbridge,
Saturday, May 28 to Bank Holiday Monday, May 30
Tonbridge Castle, Thursday, June 23
Ightham Mote, Sevenoaks, Saturday, August 20
Bedgebury, Goudhurst, Tuesday, August 30
Charlton Park Foundation, Canterbury, Wednesday, August
31
The first open-air company to be granted permission to perform
Roald Dahl’s children’s tale bring the show to Kent. Adapted by
David Wood, the story follows Mr Fox as he outwits the three mean
and wealthy farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean to steal their chickens,
ducks and turkeys and feed his family.
www.illyria.uk.com
Wind In The Willows
Aardvark Productions
Penshurst Place, Monday, May 30
A two-handed version of the popular children’s story introduces
audiences to Toad and Ratty. Families watching have to help Toad
escape from prison and recapture Toad Hall from the weasels.
www.aardvarkproductions.biz
Sense and Sensibility
Chapterhouse Theatre
Hever Festival Theatre at Hever Castle, Edenbridge,
Thursday, June 2, to Saturday, June 3
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Thursday, June 16, to Sunday, June
19
Marking 200 years since the novel’s publication, Laura Turner’s
adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic brings regency and class to the
Garden of England. As Elinor and Marianne Dashwood make their first
forays into 18th-century society, they fall in love and have their
hearts broken as they endeavour to find the balance between sense
and sensibility.
www.chapterhouse.org
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Chapterhouse Theatre
Hever Festival Theatre at Hever Castle, Edenbridge,
Saturday, June 4 to Sunday, June 5
The first production of this Shakespeare comedy this summer
takes place in the gardens of Anne Boleyn’s childhood home. As
Theseus Duke of Athens marries the Amazonian queen Hippolyta,
lovers Hermia, Demetrius, Helena and Lysander flee to the Athenian
forest in a bid to be with the one they truly love. Then when they
bump into a group of amateur actors, they find their affections are
manipulated by the fairy world, in particular the mischievous
Puck.
www.chapterhouse.org
As You Like It
Kent Shakespeare Company (KSC)
Mount Ephraim Gardens, Faversham, Wednesday, June 15, to
Saturday, June 25
Performing Shakespeare’s works at the Victorian mansion since
the 1980s, KSC has not taken any lessons from As You Like It’s most
famous line “All the world’s a stage.” All the better for Kent
though, as east Kent audiences are treated to another of
Shakespeare’s comedies. It follows Rosalind as she flees
persecution in her uncle’s court, accompanied by her cousin Celia
and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love
in the Forest of Arden.
www.kentshakespeare.co.uk
Twelfth Night
The Illyria Theatre Company
Ladham House, Goudhurst, Friday, June 17
Charlton Park Foundation, Canterbury, Sunday, June
26
Tonbridge Castle, Thursday, August 11
For the company’s 20th year, the Illyria Theatre Company has
chosen one of the greatest English comedies. Shakespeare’s story
begins with a shipwreck and Viola is washed ashore in Illyria, a
country where everything is illogical, delirious and topsy turvy.
To protect herself she dresses in a male disguise but problems
arise when Lady Olivia falls madly in love with her and Viola falls
in love with Count Orsino.
www.illyria.uk.com
Pride and Prejudice
Heartbreak Productions
Goodnestone Park and Gardens, Canterbury, Friday, June
24
Mr Darcy once again will have ladies tingling with anticipation
as Jane Austen’s most famous novel is given the open-air theatre
treatment. Set in the rural village of Meryton, it follows five
sisters’ exploits, focusing on second sister Elizabeth Bennet as
she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality and
marriage.
www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk
Comedy of Errors
Changeling Theatre
Various, Thursday, June 30, to Sunday, August
7
Short, farcical and with plenty of slapstick humour, Comedy of
Errors is the ultimate tale of mistaken identity. Every year the
audiences at the Changeling Theatre’s annual open-air Shakespeare
productions vote for which play they want to see the following
year.
Hence this summer’s tale of two sets of identical twins
accidentally separated at birth.
After growing up not knowing each other, confusion ensues when
Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio of Syracuse arrive at
the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his
servant Dromio of Ephesus.
A series of mishaps lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction,
the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus and accusations of infidelity,
theft, madness, and demonic possession.
Changeling Theatre have also added their own twist to
proceedings, setting the action in Morocco. New music comes from
Dougal Irvine and long-time director Rob Forknall will add his
quirky style to proceedings.
The starring role is filled by Jake Hendriks, who played Father
Kieran Hobbs in Hollyoaks.
Bring chairs, rugs and picnics for this Kentish summer
tradition, set in the best open spaces around the county.
www.changeling-theatre.com
The Canterbury Tales
The Pantaloons
Hall Place, Bexley, Thursday, July 14
Godinton House, Ashford, Saturday, July 23
Scotney Castle, Tunbridge Wells, Friday, July 29
Mount Ephraim Gardens, Faversham, Sunday, August 28 and
Monday, August 29
Chaucer’s pilgrims get a modern twist in this stage adaptation.
As the pilgrims make their way from Southwark to the shrine of
Thomas Becket in Canterbury, they each tell their stories. Classics
like the Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Knight’s Tale and The Miller’s
Tale are filled with deception and redemption, magic and majesty,
life and death. All are told in Chaucer’s ironic style.
www.thepantaloons.co.uk
Blithe Spirit
Hever Festival Productions
Hever Festival Theatre at Hever Castle, near Edenbridge,
Saturday, July 16, to Saturday, July 23
Labelled an improbable farce by author Noel Coward, the play
looks at what happens when you have a bad experience with the
occult. A seance goes decidedly wrong when the writer’s dead wife
Elvira is conjured from the other side, much to the discomfort of
the writer’s present wife. What is a potentially explosive
situation quickly unravels in a vintage Coward classic.
www.heverfestival.co.uk
Cranford
Chapterhouse Theatre
Hever Festival Theatre at Hever Castle, Edenbridge. Tuesday,
June 21
Danson House, Bexleyheath, Thursday, July 28
Not content to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s
novel Sense and Sensibility, Chapterhouse has decided to mark the
200th anniversary of novelist Elizabeth Gaskell’s birth with a
stage adaptation of her finest work Cranford. A new arrival sets
hearts aflutter in the sleepy village, whose womenfolk are
gloriously misguided by the outrageously proper spinster sisters,
Matty and Deborah Jenkyns.
www.chapterhouse.org
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Thursday, July 28 to Saturday, July
30
The second visit of this Shakespeare comedy is done in the
entirely traditional manner, by all-male acting company The Lord
Chamberlain’s Men. Performing on the castle’s pavilion lawn, this
ensemble of brilliant actors ironically find themselves playing a
bunch of blundering entertainers, who get themselves caught in the
middle of a battle between the King and Queen of the fairies. Young
lovers, an oppressive father and a forced marriage prove to be a
recipe for a comedy which has had audiences laughing for hundreds
of years.
www.tlcm.co.uk
Reduced Pride and Prejudice
Aardvark Productions
Penshurst Place, Sunday, July 31, Sunday, August 14 and
21.
For those who want the fast-track route to understanding Jane
Austen’s timeless romance, this is the show to see. Also a good way
of introducing children to the literature, they will make and
decorate a fan, learn about Regency life and then see the play
performed by two people in 20 minutes.
www.aardvarkproductions.biz
As You Like It
Globe Theatre Productions
Hever Festival Theatre at Hever Castle, Edenbridge,
Wednesday, August 10 to Saturday, August 13
Another Shakespeare comedy being performed in the county by more
than one theatre company. However, where the Kent Shakespeare
Company represents the best in amateur dramatics, Shakespeare’s
Globe signifies one of the highest orders of acting. As You Like It
will be directed by James Dacre, director of the 2010 Olivier
Award-winning production The Mountaintop. The play combines
cross-dressing and slapstick with gentle satire and brilliant
conversation. The Globe will use an Elizabethan-style booth stage,
inspired by paintings and etchings from Shakespeare’s time.
www.shakespearesglobe.com
Snow White
Chapterhouse Theatre
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Friday, August 12, to Sunday,
August 14.
Outdoor theatre is not just for grown-ups and the setting for
this favourite children’s story makes travelling into the deepest,
darkest depths of the forest feel even more real. Abandoned in the
middle of the woods, Snow White is banished by the evil queen but
finds an unlikely collection of vertically challenged friends. All
the audience is invited to come along in fancy dress for the
fairytale parade during the interval.
www.chapterhouse.org
Pinocchio
Heartbreak Productions
Strode Park, Herne Bay, Thursday, August 18
To become a real boy, Geppetto’s wood-carved puppet must prove
himself brave, honest and generous. Nudged towards goodness,
Pinocchio narrowly
avoids an ASBO in Heartbreak Production’s tongue-in-cheek
version of Carlo Collodi’s children’s story.
www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk
Wind in the Willows
Cambridge Touring Theatre
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Saturday, August 27, to Sunday,
August 28
This family performance on the Pavilion Lawn encourages children
to
join in with the actors as they play out the adventures of
Ratty, Mole, Badger and Mr Toad. Bring a picnic.
www.leeds-castle.com
03/05/11
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