DURHAM SHAKESPEARE GROUP
We are a touring group of actors who enjoy performing shortened versions of the plays of Shakespeare in the towns and villages of County Durham and the surrounding districts.
We make a small charge depending on the size of the audience: £25 for up to 30 people, and then £5 for each extra 10 people. But you can charge what you want for tickets.
We don’t need a stage, curtains or special lighting. We will perform on the floor of your hall with the audience on both sides, only a few feet away.
You might like to join with other groups for the occasion.
We perform in the evenings and arrive about half an hour before the play begins. We need somewhere to change into our costumes.
We are now taking bookings for 2009. If you would like to book the group for your organization, please contact the following:
· Chris Wagstaffe on 0191 3842428 or 07765665083 will give extra information or fix bookings.
· If you need more general information about the group and its activities please phone Richard Britnell on 0191 3842017 or 0191 3830409.
For you to choose:
Falstaff and the Prince
There is tension between Falstaff, the dissolute and
dishonourable knight, and Prince Hal, heir to the throne of England. Falstaff thrives on dishonesty, lies, and highway
robbery. The prince, repeatedly in trouble with his father the king, is aware that one day he will have to take
life seriously, but in the meantime enjoys Falstaff’s wit and good humour. The two
meet and spar in Mistress Quickly’s tavern in Eastcheap together with Hal’s
companion Poins and Falstaff’s disreputable followers, Pistol, Nym and Bardolph.
The narrative of this lively performance (which lasts about an hour) is made up
of scenes from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part 1, Henry IV, part 2, and Henry V.
Bottom’s Dream
Nick Bottom and his friends, working men of Athens, prepare a play of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ to celebrate the wedding of Duke Theseus. Bottom is to play Pyramus. Their only rehearsal is seriously disrupted by mischievous interruption from the world of Fairyland, when Puck puts an ass’s head on Bottom. Bottom can hardly believe his eyes and (long) ears when the deluded Queen of the Fairies falls in love with him. He is nevertheless released from his strange transformation just in time for ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ to be memorably performed on the wedding night. This is, of course, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but shortened to last about 1¼ hours by the omission of scenes involving the Athenian lovers. Photographs
Macbeth
Macbeth, goaded by his ambitious wife, murders King Duncan in cold blood. It has been prophesied by the three weird sisters that he would become king, so he makes it happen. But that’s only the beginning of the story. One of Shakespeare’s shortests plays, arranged in this production to last about 1¼ hours, it is also one of the most packed with action. One crime leads to another, each widening the circle of Macbeth’s personal enemies and eventually leading to his downfall. Photographs
Miscellany
‘Some of the bard’s best bits’. A varied evening entertainment with songs, sketches, sonnets and selected scenes from Shakespeare’s best-loved plays, including some of the funniest and some of the most moving. Guaranteed to hold your attention.