Open-air Shakespeare Festival on campus

Wendy Raeside

Open-air Shakespeare comes to the Canterbury campus this summer with performances of two of his best-known plays.

Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed on the grass slopes alongside Eliot footpath as part of the first Canterbury Shakespeare Festival from 14-16 and 21-23 August 2015.

The Festival has been launched by a group of undergraduate students at Kent who wanted to bring together student theatre and local amateur dramatics. Founder of the festival is Benjamin Chamberlain, a first-year Religious Studies student. Others involved include Elliot Huxtable (Drama and Theatre) and Philip Hunt (English & American Literature), who are directing the two shows, and Drama and Theatre students helping with marketing, design and acting.

Jordan Coverdale (Drama and Theatre), who is marketing the Festival, said: ‘As a group, we were keen to share our love of Shakespeare with members of the Canterbury community. The University was the perfect venue for this, not only because of our close ties, but for its stunning views across the city.’

Performance details are:

  • Romeo and Juliet – Friday 14 August to Sunday 16 August, 19.30 nightly and a matinee (14.30) on Saturday.
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Friday 21 August to Sunday 23 August, 19.30 nightly and 14.30 on Saturday.

Tickets prices are £12 (standard) and £8 (concessions – OAP, children, students). There is also a 4+ family deal – buy four or more tickets for one performance and get them all at the reduced price of £7.50 each.

To find out more, see the Canterbury Shakespeare Festival webpages: www.canterburyshakespeare.co.uk