As we now come into July (this year is flying past already!), we are pleased to see the return of the volunteer-run Bristol Shakespeare Festival. The festival was founded in 2003 and the team that organises it work extremely hard to bring the freshest, most exciting productions of Shakespeare’s plays to some of Bristol’s most beautiful and unusual spaces every summer during the month of July. Venues across the city where performances have taken place previously include Redcliffe Caves, Brandon Hill Bowling Green, Leigh Woods, The Rope Walk Pub, The Tobacco Factory, The Alma Tavern, Boiling Wells Amphitheatre, Blaise Castle and Ashton Court Estate and 2017’s line up is one not to be missed.
The festival is run entirely by volunteers and the number of performances they put together each year is quite astonishing. This year the schedule includes favourites such as The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, Ophelia, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, King Lear…and that is to name but a few!
One of the highlights of the festival will be Butterfly Theatre Company’s production of Romeo and Juliet where Shakespeare’s popular tale of two star-crossed lovers will come alive in the beautiful setting of Arnos Vale. Butterfly’s productions are created to respond to their surroundings so each performance is unique and really something quite brilliant.
Ticket prices will vary and the festival is popular so be sure to pre-book your tickets online. Shakespeare outside on a July evening? A perfect start to summer…