TWELFTH NIGHT, THE WINTER'S TALE and More to Run at the Dell, Now thru Aug 31

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 today, Saturday 7 June, and continue until Sunday 31 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.

Full details on each of the productions follow:

Saturday 7 June
1pm, 1 hr 30 mins
Twelfth Night
York Shakespeare Project
Shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria and mourning her lost twin brother, young Viola quickly becomes entangled in courts and courtships of the Island. Shakespeare's comic masterpiece is given a fast, fun and folky production with live music and an imaginative staging.

Sunday 8 June
1pm, 1 hr 30 mins
The Winter's Tale
Staffordshire University
Leontes, King of Sicilia is tormented with the belief that his wife Hermione is having an affair with his childhood friend Polixenes. Rapidly, his jealousy rips through the fabric of the royal household with terrifying results. Seen through the eyes of his son, Mamillius, Staffordshire University's Drama and Theatre Arts graduates perform Shakespeare's tragi-comedy.

Saturday 14 June
1pm and 4pm, 1 hr 30 mins
Macbeth
The Handlebards
Carrying all their set, props and costumes on just 4 bikes, The Handlebards will be rocking up with their innovative style in Shakespeare's incredible tale of ambition, magic and murder.

Sunday 15 June
12noon and 3pm, 1 hr 30 mins
The Comedy of Errors
The Handlebards
The Handlebards do Shakespeare differently - using bikes to power various surprises and contraptions on-stage, they will play all the parts in this wild 1930s indie-folk romp.

Saturday 21 June
12noon, 2pm and 4pm, 1 hr 20 mins
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Greater Fool
This wonderful, farcical comedy is seldom performed and when paired with this concept with an ever so slightly sceptical edge it'll appeal to reality TV lovers and haters alike. Tune in and find out the scandalous and shocking conclusions in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June
12 noon, 1 hr
At War with Love
Oxford Actors Company
A selection of Shakespeare's Sonnets set against the turbulent backdrop of World War I. Exploring the ideas of love, passion, jealousy and loss through the power of the sonnets' rich and emotive language combined with dazzling physicality.

Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June
3pm, 1 hr 30 mins
Romeo and Juliet
Birdiedoes
Set in Verona during the Renaissance, Romeo and his friends gate-crash a masked ball of their family's most hated enemy he falls in love with Juliet. From this moment they unknowingly begin an unstoppable chain reaction that will lead to passion, defiance, murder, suicide and the greatest love story ever told.

Saturday 5 July
12 noon and 3pm, 1 hr 20 mins
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Midsummer Madness Theatre Company
Performed by students and alumni from The University of Exeter, this ensemble-driven company will present the wild escapades of lovers, fairies and mechanicals in a chaotic world of folly, revolution and power struggle.

Sunday 6 July
12 noon and 4pm, 1 hr 30 mins
Hamlet (The Dark Lady of Denmark)
CL Rep Company
A fresh, shortened, contemporary version; set in the world of corporate and political Denmark; a barren place of ambition, revenge, treachery and moral corruption; this revised version looks at Hamlet from a female perspective.

Saturday 12 July
12 noon and Sun 13 July, 3pm, 1 hr
The Comedy of Errors
Shakespeare Young Company
Confusion! Misunderstanding! A typical day in Ephesus... take two sets of identical twins and a confection of zany inhabitants and we have a recipe for one day of absolute madness. Made by the company with a visual style inspired by silent movies and slapstick-a-plenty.

Saturday 12 July
3pm and Sun 13 July, 12 noon, 1 hr
Old Wives' Tale
Shakespeare Young Company
The worlds of fairy, the supernatural and the sorcerer Sacrapant collide in an evocative night of magic that Peele wrote and Shakespeare will have seen.

Saturday 19 July
3pm, 2 hrs
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Royal Navy Theatre Association
HMS Victory is anchored in the Bay of Athens and Theseus, the ruler of the city, is to be married in four days' time with great celebrations planned. The 'jolly jack tars' from the ship become involved in the festivities and complications and comedy follow!

Sunday 20 July
12 noon and 3pm, 1hr
Hal
Ingenius Theatre
Hal is a stripped down version of William Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I, which focuses on the relationship between The Prince of Wales and Falstaff. Ingenius theatre is a new theatre company launched at the beginning of 2011 in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July
12 noon and 4pm, 2hrs
The Tempest
Gloucestershire Youth Players
GYP bring fresh eyes and an unexpected twist to the magical and mystical tale of Prospero and Miranda. Our island is a huge patchwork quilt where nothing is quite as it seems, a story for you told with pace, humour, energy and passion.

Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August
12 noon, 1 hr 30 mins
Troilus and Cressida
The King's Troupe
Returning for the second year this intergenerational group from West Yorkshire bring an extravaganza of stilt walking, dancing and a Greek Chorus, providing sung commentary on and off the stage; all woven into the complex story-line of Troilus and Cressida.

Sunday 3 August
3pm, 1hr 30 mins
A Midsummer Night's Dream
PurpleCoat Productions
Supported by Richard Wilson, Virgin Media and Stephen Fry, PurpleCoat's first Youth Theatre production aims to give opportunities to talented youngsters in an innovative and modern twist on Shakespeare's greatest comedy

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 August
12 noon, 1 hr 30 mins
Hamlet
Project Shakespeare
His father dead, his mother married to his uncle and newly crowned King, Hamlet returns from Wittenberg to find his world turned upside down. Project Shakespeare students tell the story of Shakespeare's greatest play by unravelling the threads that connect their lives to this masterpiece.

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 August
3pm, 1 hr 30 mins
Romeo and Juliet
Shooting Stars Theatre Company
Come and see this accessible and exciting production where Shakespeare is stripped down to its gripping core. Be prepared to laugh and cry in equal measure as the inevitable fate of these star-crossed lovers plays out before your eyes.

Saturday 16 August
12 noon and 3pm, 1 hr 30 mins
The Rain It Raineth Every Day
Shakespeare Live
Using songs, music, sonnets and short scenes from his plays, this production takes a walk through Shakespeare's use of the four seasons and their accompanying weather.

Sat 23 and Sun 24 August
12 noon and 3pm, 1 hr 5 mins
Twelfth Night
BMH Productions
Welcome to Illyria, an uproarious world of lost wanderers, hilarious drunkards, raucous parties and depressive noblemen performed to the beat of inventive live music and mad-cap singing. Combining puppetry, music and song let BMH immerse you in a world which is alive, funny, and unpredictable.

Saturday 30 August
12 noon and 3pm, 1 hr 30 mins
The Comedy of Errors
Dulwich Players
Two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, collide in the same city without meeting for one extraordinary day, when Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio, in search of their respective brothers, land in Epheseus, a bustling city full of wonderment, mystery and apparent enchantment.

Sunday 31 August
12 noon and 3pm, 1 hr 30 mins
The Tempest
Bilton Pantomummers
A culture clash of characters brings Shakespeare's language to life through the island's habitants, contrasted with the arrival of the shipwrecked party, spoken in modern English and clothing. Playing with the idea that Prospero represents Shakespeare himself he will be constant presence onstage, manipulating events to come.

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