…. stow the chairs – and off to the show
AN unusually warm summer has been the perfect encouragement to enjoy the open air theatre season, which began this year in May and brings comedies, tragedies, classics and new stories to audiences across the country until mid-September.
As at 24th April, there were 17 companies touring a total of 31 productions.
William Shakespeare is again the most popular choice for the touring companies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream has four tours, by Quantum, Sun and Moon Theatre, Three Inch Fools and Troubadour Stageworks. Twelfth Night has three outings, from the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Folksy and Miracle. Romeo and Juliet is being performed by 440 Theatre. And if you want to brush up even more of your Shakespeare, the Pantaloons will tour Hamlet, Dukes Theatre tours Macbeth, Illyria tours The Merry Wives of Windsor and Immersion Theatre tours The Tempest. Much Ado About Nothing also has a tour on its own from the cycling Handlebards, and tours in a double bill with Macbeth, devised by the 440 Theatre company.
Pride and Prejudice will be toured by Illyria, and The Wind in the Willows has tours from Illyria and Immersion Theatre. Alice has both her stories on the road this year, with Adventures in Wonderland from Chapterhouse and Through the Looking Glass from Quantum.
As well as these shows, Folksy is performing Twelfth Night and Robin Hood, Festival players are touring As You Like It, Plandits are taking The Big Bad Wolf on the rounds, the Rude Mechanicals have a new show, Gentle Harry’s Farm, Illyria revives Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, Quantum tells The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck, and Three Inch Fools perform The Most Perilous Comedie of Elizabeth I. Rain or Shine, that company that cocks a snook at the weather gods, revives The Rivals, and the Pantalolons tour Robin Hood and Sense and Sensibility, and Plandits will be opening the gate to The Secret Garden.
For full details, visit the companies’ websites, and consult the FTR Arts Diary. Early booking is advised. See below for who is doing what, where and when in the south and west region of the UK.
Who’s doing what, where and when
[Updated 30th August 2025]
The Dukes Theatre Company – www.thedukestheatrecompany.co.uk
Macbeth
Trelissick Garden (3 September), Scorrier House Redruth (4 Sept), Trebah Garden (5 & 6 Sept), The Minack Theatre Porthcurno (8 to 11 Sept).
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Illyria Theatre Co – www.illyria.co.uk
HMS Pinafore
Heywood House Trowbridge (6 Sept), Wheal Martyn Clayworks St Austell (13 Sept), Helston Coronation Park (14 Sept).
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The Pantaloons – thepantaloons.co.uk
Hamlet
Churchinford Cricket Ground (31 Aug), Bishops Palace Wells (3 Sept).
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Three Inch Fools – www.threeinchfools.com
The Most Perilous Comedie of Elizabeth I
Berkeley Castle (31st August and 1st September), Museum of Somerset Taunton (3 Sept), Marine Theatre Lyme Regis (4 Sept).
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