As summer approaches Daily Info has collected the must-attend open air theatre and opera in Oxford and the surrounding area.
A Bard-filled Summer
A summer in Oxford wouldn’t be the same without an open air production of Shakespeare. And the Oxford Shakespeare Festival returns with a trio of productions featuring four works by The Bard. First up, BMH Productions mix tragedy with comedy as they present a condensed double bill of Macbeth & Much Ado About Nothing. This is followed by a pair of star-cross lovers from warring households, with Wild Goose Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet. And then the festival ends with the magical laughs of A Midsummer Night's Dream (staged by Siege Theatre).
Creation Theatre are also getting in on the Elizabethan fun, taking over the South Oxford Adventure Playground, with their first open air Shakespeare production in four years, with the quick-witted romance Much Ado About Nothing (now with an 80s setting).
Further afield, Folksy Theatre return to Millets Farm Centre with bawdy romp The Merry Wives of Windsor. They’re also bringing a puppet-packed family-friendly fairy tale of The Ugly Duckling. And Illyria Theatre, the masters of open air theatre, come to Henley with Twelfth Night. Expect music, cross dressing and some joyful Shakespeare.
The Puppet Theatre Barge
Other theatrical delights
Immersion Theatre also roll into Henley with a brand-new adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, mixing audience participation, dazzling costumes and family-friendly laughs. Also perfect for the family this summer is The Puppet Theatre Barge, which docks in Abingdon with a marionette adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant. It’s a production that will surely be a perfect introduction to puppetry. And similarly classic text, J M Barrie's Peter Pan, gets a fresh take with some three-hander silliness from Slapstick Picnic
For older audiences there’s the Restoration classic The Recruiting Officer. Staged by the Oxford Theatre Guild in Trinity College Gardens, it promises a witty, action-packed take on George Farquhar’s comic satire. And even more costume drama/comedy fun can be had with the Blewbury Players’ Shakespeare in Love.
Waterperry Opera
A song to sing
As the name suggests, Opera Anywhere brings the art form pretty much anywhere. And this summer you can find locally performances of The Mikado and The Magic Flute. Also travelling around several venues are All Aboard Opera, with Backseat Stories, a collection of four operatic tales playing at several Oxfordshire venues.
Brampton Classical Opera celebrate their 30th season with Antonio Salieri’s At the Venice Fair, a boisterous and colourful comedy from the 1770s. And perhaps the highlight of the season is the Waterperry Opera Festival, performing 8 productions including works by Bizet, Dove, Handel and Purcell.
Waterperry Gardens
Open air venues
Waterperry Gardens will also be the venue for a host of other open-air productions from Hercules and The Tales of Peter Rabbit to Romeo & Juliet and a musical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
It is one of several places in the local area that become the setting for wonderful open air theatre. Berrybank Park has live music, comedy, opera and, of course, theatre as part of its line-up, all climaxing with Proms in the Park. Waddesdon Manor sees productions visit from The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Illyria Theatre, and The Pantaloons. Plus Luna Cinema arrive in September with a line-up including Elvis, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Top Gun: Maverick.
Cogges Manor’s line-up takes a turn away from Shakespeare, with takes on classic texts like The Wind in the Willows, Pride and Prejudice and Robin Hood. And one final summer treat can be found at the Great Barn Festival in September. On the bill is Three Inch Fools with their delightful take on Robin Hood and Shakespeare in a Suitcase, bringing condensed versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo & Juliet.