Storyhouse Heads Outdoors For Summer Of Entertainment

Storyhouse is heading outside this summer with a busy programme of exciting events which will appeal to audiences young and old.

The Storyhouse Outdoors season will include children's shows, comedy, music and storytelling, all taking place within the atmospheric surroundings of the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre village.

The wide-ranging selection of events has been designed to create a fantastic festival feel and complement the annual open air theatre season which this year features productions of Romeo and Juliet, Little Women and Stig of the Dump.

Some of the Storyhouse Outdoors events are free, while others cost just £10 or under. And there are concessions for Storyhouse Members.

The shows and other activities will either be staged within the open-air theatre space itself or will take place in the Grosvenor Park tepee where unreserved seating will be at Bavarian beer hall-style tables.

The tepee bar will be open daily for visitors to drop in and enjoy a drink, while Grosvenor Park's famous wood fired pizza oven will be fired up and ready to go to enhance the experience for those attending evening events.

The special programme starts on Thursday 14 July when Amy Antrobus and Toria Wooff take to the temporary stage inside the tepee for an enchanting night of acoustic sounds.

Me + Deboe take to the stage on Sunday 7 August. Expect witty lyrics and sumptuous vocal harmonies from the Chester duo who have also composed the music for this season's Romeo and Juliet.

And Dave Roberts and Anna Jane Haughton are set to appear at an acoustic evening on Saturday 21 August, with more acts still to be announced.

All the acoustic evenings are programmed in association with Mai 68 Records who co-produced the popular Storyhouse Sessions earlier this year.

Comedy fans' comedian of choice Daniel Kitson is set to command the main Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre space on Sunday 17 July. The show has already sold out.

And the tepee is the venue for an unmissable Comedy Night on Sunday 28 August. Danny McLoughlin, who recently supported Jason Manford on tour, will act as host and perform, with the rest of the line up yet to be announced.

The Storyhouse Young Company takes over the theatre-in-the-round on Wednesday 20 July and Thursday 21 July with a thrilling, twisted performance of Rob Drummond's play Flesh.

Faced with the challenge of having no knowledge of where they are, who they are, and being away from the modern world, insanity grows among a group as tribal instincts kick back in.

Storyhouse Outdoors is also staging a series of shows aimed at a pre-school audience and their families.

Goofus Theatre appears at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre on Friday 29 July with Lily and the Heron. Puppetry and music are used to tell a tale of bravery, courage and magic.

Lily finds the world too noisy and busy and has stopped speaking. But one day she meets an amazing friend who her needs her help. Can Lily find her courage - and with it, her voice?

Rapunzel will invite young audiences to let down their hair on Friday 5 August when Mr and Mrs Theatre Company presents a unique adaptation of the famous Grimm fairytale, complete with music, circus and a lot of family fun.

Bonkers balloon sculptures and high energy comic performances are on the cards when The Great Balloon Show arrives at Grosvenor Park on Friday 12 August. The theatrical experience with a difference features a great 80s soundtrack and an award-winning clown.

And on Friday 19 August, The Pied Piper Theatre Company presents DIG! A gentle first theatre experience, perfect for youngsters aged six months to toddler, DIG! uses music, rhyme and singing to bring to life a world of growing plants, busy bugs, wriggling worms and ever-changing weather.

In addition to the special events there will also be a free weekly programme of Storyhouse favourites bursting out of the building and into the park every Monday during July and August.

Rhymetime will be staged weekly in the magical surroundings of the Grosvenor Park tepee. Families are welcome to stay and relax after the sessions.

And Storyhouse Languages, held on Sunday 26 June from 1.30-4.30pm, will offer an afternoon of music, storytelling and performance from some of Chester's vibrant and diverse international community. The bar will be open and people are invited to bring their own picnic and enjoy the fun which will include Portuguese stories for children.

Storyhouse Producer Helen Redcliffe says: "This is the first time Storyhouse has created a programme of additional events around Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, and I hope it will add to a real festival feel for what I know is going to be fantastic summer in the park.

"I'm really excited with the line-up which we've brought together, from wonderful acoustic evening sets to brilliant comedy to visits from some really entertaining, inventive and inspiring theatre companies.

"The storytelling and theatrical experiences are aimed at the littlest theatregoers and their families.

"And we're also taking elements of Storyhouse's wide-ranging regular programme of events and taking them into the great outdoors for the summer months. I can't wait!"

For more details and to book visit www.storyhouse.com

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