Outdoor Shakespeare troupe finds new home
Harriet Heywood
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
Reporting fromBuckden, St Neots
Harriet Heywood/BBC
“Open air Shakespeare doesn’t happen everywhere, I hope that it will blow people minds because it’s an amazing thing,” said Reuben Milne, chair of the registered charity, Shakespeare at the Towers Trust
An open-air theatre group that lost its pub home said it was excited to debut at the 11th Century former residence of Catherine of Aragon – the first wife of Henry VIII.
The group, formerly named Shakespeare at The George, had its annual residency contract at the pub, in Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, terminated by Greene King last year, after 65 years.
On 24 June, it will start a run of performances of Twelfth Night at its new home of Buckden Towers, a few miles down the A1 in Buckden.
Reuben Milne, chair of the newly named Shakespeare at the Towers, said he was excited to hear what both new and loyal audiences thought of the historic space.
Harriet Heywood/BBC
The open-air production will take place in the Queen Katherine Knot Garden
.
Shakespeare’s plays had been performed at the 15th Century coaching inn in Huntington for 65 years
The George Hotel had been an old Jacobean coaching inn where Shakespeare’s plays would have been performed, and it had been an “astonishingly authentic venue” to put on the plays.
Mr Milne, 54, said: “Every single thing has had to change – from 65 years of learning how one venue works and how the space works and what we need. It’s a complete reset.
“[But] what’s lovely about this place is it still has that historical authenticity.
“It formerly belonged to the bishops of Lincoln, and at one point Catherine of Aragon was kept here… It had lots of visits from kings and royalty.”
He continued: “It’s well preserved and it really does feel like not much has changed… You could almost imagine you’re here in mediaeval times, perhaps hearing of this young upcoming playwright called William something-or-other.”
Harriet Heywood/BBC
The garden has a large built-in flagstone stage, but is not in an enclosed space, which created some challenges when it came to setting up lighting
The towers is about four miles (6.5km) away from the George, but Mr Milne anticipated the move would bring in new audiences as well as long-term fans.
He added: “We are hoping to bring them with us. I’m really interested in seeing what they think, what changes they’ve seen, how they would compare the two experiences.
“I think I’m possibly even more excited by people who’ve never come across us before.”
The show will run at Buckden Towers from 24 June to 5 July this summer.
There will be a captioned performance, sponsored by The Evelyn Glennie Foundation and a touch tour of the set and costumes for blind and partially sighted people before the performance on 30 June.
Harriet Heywood/BBC
Mr Milne said he was grateful to the residents of Buckden for welcoming the theatre group, adding excitement had been building around the production as more than 600 tickets were sold within the first week
