Shakespeare

Hamlet

★★★★★

Named after the company that William Shakespeare worked for as an actor and playwright, the all-male theatre company The Lord Chamberlain’s Men has performed Shakespeare’s plays as close to the original presentation as possible for the last 20 years. Touring throughout Europe, the company performs in the open air wearing Elizabethan costumes and features music and song within the performances. As an all-male group, any female roles are played by the men, as would have been the case in Shakespearean England.

Richard, My Richard

★★★★★

Richard III is one of the most infamous Kings of England. Known as a tyrant, a usurper, and portrayed by Shakespeare as a hunchback, Richard III is often synonymous with the murder of his nephews, The Princes in the Tower. But what if everything that you think you know about Richard III isn’t actually true? With history written by the victors, what if Richard was actually a loyal brother, a loving husband and a victim of the historical record being incorrect? This is the intriguing question that historian, author, and now playwright Philippa Gregory asks in her debut play Richard, My Richard.

2024 Upcoming Shows

Happy New Year!

With a new year comes a new set of productions within the local area, so we thought we’d share details of some of the productions which will be coming to the local area in 2024 that we are most excited about.

With a few productions, particularly those at ATG Theatres, the touring productions are on in both Liverpool and Manchester at different times of the year. This means we’re able to look at what dates work best for us, or to see productions multiple times. We’ll list the dates under each of the venues a tour is visiting, but we may only see them at one of the venues listed. We’ve also tried to group the venues based on the city they’re in, starting in Liverpool and moving eastwards to Manchester.

First Folio Talk by Ben Crystal

★★★★★

As part of the First Folio exhibition currently on at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Associate Artist Ben Crystal has delivered an absolutely fascinating insight into how the First Folio was made, and what makes the First Folio such an important piece of both literature and history.

During the Lights On / Lights Off shows which Ben directed and performed in, he gave brief background details into each of the excerpts of the plays which we both really enjoyed. Ben is not only hugely knowledgable and passionate about Shakespeare, but he is also a very engaging public speaker. You cannot help but be swept up in his enthusiasm for The Bard. So with tickets available for just £3 per person as part of Shakespeare North’s Pay What You Decide scheme, attending this event felt like an absolute no brainer.

First Folio Exhibition

★★★★★

400 years ago, just 7 years after Shakespeare’s death, the First Folio containing 36 of Shakespeare’s plays was published. Now, to coincide with the European premiere of ‘The Book of Will’, Shakespeare North Playhouse have an exhibition all about the First Folio, which includes an actual copy of the First Folio which is on loan from The British Library.

Forming part of The British Library’s Treasures on Tour programme, the First Folio on display is The Grenville First Folio which was bequeathed to the library by Thomas Grenville in 1846. Unlike many copies of the First Folio, all of the pages are present in this one including the iconic portrait of William Shakespeare.

The Book of Will

★★★★★

As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Shakespeare North Playhouse are staging Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will.

Telling the tale of how the First Folio came to be, and how so many of Shakespeare’s plays only survive due to the efforts of those who knew him best, The Book of Will is a fantastic co-production with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Octagon Theatre Bolton.

The Book of Will takes the audience on the journey of The King’s Men and their realisation that as each of them dies so to do the real words of Shakespeare, and with each passing the mis-remembered words and modified versions become the truth. As each version moves further away from how Shakespeare would have intended, The King’s Men decide to gather The Bard’s works in order to publish them in a folio. There’s just one problem; the majority of the works haven’t been written down. Those that are written down largely exist as individual scripts for actors and cover purely their lines and cues. The King’s Men must band together to try and find complete works that they can publish.

Macbeth

★★★★★

Co-produced by English Touring Theatre, Northern Stage, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, this contemporary production of Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth is not only unafraid to provocatively subvert the genre of the play, but to also rearrange the scenes to create a powerful stage show that mirrors the political landscape of modern Britain. This fresh perspective of is a commendable modernisation, which director Richard Twyman has ensured still honours the Scottish roots of the original play.

Improvised Rubbish Shakespeare

★★★★★

Improvised Rubbish Shakespeare isn’t quite as the name suggests. Yes, there is improvisation with a Shakespearean twist, but this is far from rubbish. The Rubbish Shakespeare Company have created an engaging format that is a creative introduction to the language and style of Shakespeare, whilst also being an hilarious comedy.

The premise of the show is William Shakespeare has failed to turn up for a performance meaning the cast have no scripts. With the King in the audience, they can’t let him down. Instead, they decide to improvise a show using audience suggestions of a time period, a situation and a location. Over the course of an hour, the cast create a 5 act play fit for a King.

Midsummer Mechanicals

★★★★★

The Olivier Award nominated Midsummer Mechanicals is back for Summer 2023 at The Globe, but before opening in London the show has completed a very limited run at Shakespeare North Playhouse.

Set one year after the mechanicals performed Pyramus and Thisbe, Nick Bottom (Kerry Frampton) and Peter Quince (Jamal Frankin) are trying to get the group back together to perform a new show. Unfortunately, the script isn’t complete, Francis Flute (Sam Glen) has gone through puberty which poses a problem for him to play the female roles, and Tom Snout isn’t available so his wife Patience (Melody Brown) has decided to take his place, but as a female she legally can’t perform. With just 45 minutes until the Duke and Duchess arrive for the premiere of “The Adventures of the Weaver and the Fairy Queen”, the quartet have no choice but to try and make it work.