The Orange Tree Theatre Announces First Ever Community Festival and Full Cast For PLAY ON PROJECT: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

The Orange Tree Theatre today announces its first ever Community Festival as part of OT50, commemorating 50 years of the Orange Tree Theatre. The OT Community are mounting an inter-generational production titled Seven Celebrations, which sees an original performance piece devised by the whole cast, made up of 80 members from 5-75-year-olds and the return of OT's schools community project Play On sees a brand-new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Following the success of Primary Shakespeare and Shakespeare Up Close, the OT announce Play On and its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. OT Community teams have been delivering school workshops introducing students to the Shakespeare classic, allowing them to contribute to choices made in the production at the venue from lighting, design, sounds and the fate of the characters before performances running from 20 June - 22 July. Fiona Drummond directs Tiajna Amayo, Levi Bent, Simran Bhandari and Tom Briggs.

OT Community Festival's production of Seven Celebrations runs from 29 July - 31 July with direction from by Jen Bakst alongside community group directors Scott Le Crass, Rio Fry, Harry Gould, Madi Mahoney, and Hannah De Ville. The production explores themes of comedy, music, history and pop culture through the ages, and the eyes of all involved, and how these have evolved.

Artistic Director Paul Miller says today "For 50 years the OT has had a proud record of community engagement, so what better of celebrating this than with a new production of The Dream for schools audiences and a brand new adventure: our first Community Festival. OT Community shows that inclusivity is at the heart of the OT, and that the OT is rooted in its community."

Play On director Fiona Drummond says today "Our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream grabs hold of the challenges in the play around consent, autonomy, revenge and forgiveness. We're going to invite our young audience to be more meddlesome than Puck, they will pick their own ending and give voice to some of the unspoken moments of the play. We can't wait to hear what they think."

Performances run 20 June - 22 July.

In a galaxy far far away, a duke has won a queen in a war, a father disowns his daughter because she's in love with the wrong man and a fairy king has his ego bruised and wants revenge on his wife. In a fairy filled wood havoc runs wild. It's up to you, the audience, to put it right!

OT Community will refocus existing Shakespeare projects to strengthen links to the national curriculum and make the process more collaborative, giving students more ownership over the final production.

This year the OT Community launched a new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with in-school workshops introducing the play to students, discussing the social themes and issues in the play. Between Key Stages 1-4, students will look at issues around healthy relationships within PSHE lessons. A Midsummer Night's Dream provides examples of unhealthy relationships and issues around consent, which will be used as stimulus for discussion within the workshop.

For school groups: once you've booked to attend a performance of the show, reach out to education@orangetreetheatre.com to book an in-school workshop (from 9 May). The team will also provide classroom activities for between the workshop and the performance.

Supported by Hampton Fund, RPLC and the Haskel Family Foundation.

Fiona Drummond directs. Directing credits include Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre, Primary Shakespeare Tour), As You Like It, Robin Hood (Telling Tales at Shakespeare's Globe). As an actor, her credits include Pinocchio (Orange Tree Theatre), Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V (Telling Tales at Shakespeare's Globe), The Kindness of Strangers (curious directive on tour), Noises Off, Hay Fever, Keep Smiling Through (Theatre by the Lake) and London Assurance (National Theatre).

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