Jonathan Kaufman 17 Aug 2019
Apologies for the absence of director’s diary entries in the last month, things got very busy for us with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, so I’m now taking a well-earned rest before our autumn season kicks off in mid-September with our magical new version of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale PINOCCHIO. But here’s a short update on what we got up to this summer:
Alice in Mayow Park was our most successful show yet, with over 1500 people coming to performances over 8 days. Miraculously, the skies stayed clear for us, with only rain before and after performances, not during the shows themselves. In fact, we were blessed with sunshine on many occasions, usually as the audience walked into Wonderland!
You can see some fantastic photos from the shows by Jan Nordén (and Mark Drinkwater) here.
Feedback from audiences was uniformly fantastic, with many asking us if we will be making open-air theatre in the park a regular, annual event. The good news is – yes! We are now planning another show for families next May & June – The Tales of Beatrix Potter, featuring characters such as Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Jeremy Fisher and Mrs Tiggywinkle – plus a show for grown-ups in July & August – the front-runner is currently The Tempest, but other ideas are very welcome!
There’s something very special about open-air theatre, and we loved moving our audience from location to location. The logistics of getting nearly 300 people walking through a rabbit hole wasn’t easy, but great fun all the same!
Thanks to everyone who came along to the shows, and huge thanks to our amazing volunteer team who made the experience so enjoyable. See you next summer!
