Shakespeare's Globe Revitalises Fading Tradition of Touring Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Globe will take to the road again this summer for its fourth year of regional touring. This year, the Globe will revive its 2009 productions of The Comedy of Errors and A Midsummer Night's Dream between April and September, which will exchange venues to reach new audiences. In a dwindling market of touring Shakespeare, these productions provide welcome nourishment. Audiences to the Globe's tours have grown over the years - reaching over 35,000 people across UK and Europe in 2009.

Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe, commented; ‘It was with great pride that we resurrected the British touring tradition in summer 2007 after a 400 year break for Shakespeare's Globe. The enthused public response and ever-increasing regional audiences indicate a clear demand for quality Shakespeare tours, which are unavailable elsewhere. Our two 2009 productions were an absolute delight, so we are thrilled to revive and share them with even more people."

Evoking the touring tradition of its Elizabethan forefathers, Shakespeare's Globe presents both productions on a booth stage, inspired by paintings and etchings from Shakespeare's time. Two troupes of eight travelling players will visit beautiful open-air settings across the UK and Europe, including Old Wardour Castle near Salisbury, Bodleian Library Quadrangle in Oxford, Storrs Hall Hotel on the banks of Lake Windermere and the Akershus Fortress in Oslo.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is loved around the world for its teasing and inventive wit. Two couples, an amateur troupe of actors and an angry dispute between the king and queen of the fairies, collide in the woods outside Athens with absurd and dreamlike results. Director Raz Shaw (most recently created and directed Gambling at Soho Theatre) breathes new life into this amazingly inventive play. Reviving their enchanting performances from last year will be Bethan Walker as Puck and William Mannering as Bottom.

Full of cross purposes and manic slapstick, The Comedy of Errors is a hectic and hilarious tale of estranged brothers and twin servants kept ignorant of each other. Director Rebecca Gatward entranced audiences around the country last year, with her delightfully funny production.

Listings Information - Shakespeare's Globe on Tour

A Midsummer Night's Dream
29 April - 28 August 2010
Directed by Raz Shaw
Designed by HannaH Clark
Composed by Alex Silverman
Choreography by Georgina Lamb

Dates
Venue
29 April - 1 May
Royal Naval College, Greenwich*
3 - 14 May
Shakespeare's Globe, London*
16 - 18 May
Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire
21 - 23 May
St Nicholas Gardens, Brighton
27 - 29 May
Old Wardour Castle, Salisbury
8 - 13 June
Oslo, Norway
17 - 20 June
Heaton Park, Manchester*
22 - 23 June
Crichton Campus, Dumfries*
25 - 27 June
Pavilion Gardens, Buxton
1 - 2 July
Shakespeare's Globe, London*
6 - 11 July
Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmonds
16 - 18 July
Globe Theatre in Neuss, Germany
22 - 23 July
Argotti Gardens in Floriana, Malta
27 July - 8 August
Bodleian Library Quadrangle, Oxford*
19 - 22 August
South Hill Park, Bracknell*
27 - 28 August
Lydiard House, Swindon*

*Tickets available from Shakespeare's Globe box office 020 7401 9919 or online at www.shakespeares-globe.org.

The Comedy of Errors
17 June - 4 September
Directed by Rebecca Gatward
Designed by Liz Cooke
Composed by Alex Silverman
Choreography by Sian Williams

Dates
Venue
17 - 20 June
City Museum Gardens, Portsmouth*
22 - 23 June
Parham House, West Sussex*
28 - 29 June
Hedingham Castle, Essex*
3 - 4 July
Hertsmonceux Castle*
6 - 10 July
Vivary Park, Taunton
19 - 23 July
Shakespeare's Globe, London*
31 July - 1 August
Art Carnuntum, Austria
4 - 7 August
Ashton Court, Bristol*
17 August
mima Gardens, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
19 - 22 August
Storrs Hall Hotel, Lake Windermere
24 - 25 August
Newby Hall, North Yorkshire*
27 August
Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales
29 August
St Donat's Castle, Vale of Glamorgan*
31 August - 4 September
Shakespeare's Globe, London *

*Tickets available from Shakespeare's Globe box office 020 7401 9919 or online at www.shakespeares-globe.org.

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