A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Oddsocks will be taking to the road again in the summer of 2025 with another high-energy, feel-good, family theatre show. Shakespeare’s most magical, fast paced, hilarious comedy; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be performed in Oddsocks’ inimitable irreverent and knockabout style with live music, comedy action and even some outrageous hunting dogs!

Four lovers run off to the Athenian forest where mysterious woodland creatures play tricks on them with hilarious results and when a troupe of amateur actors decide to rehearse in a glade, the fairies intervention leads to bizarre and outrageous comedy.

Don’t miss out – Catch the Dream!

Much Ado About Nothing

Pedalling from venue to venue with all of their set, props and costumes on the back of their bikes, the HandleBards are a four-strong troupe of actors who are spending the summer bringing environmentally sustainable Shakespeare to venues across the UK.

Join the troupe at Bowring Park for a bicycle-powered production of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ like you’ve never seen before. In usual HandleBards style, expect riotous amounts of energy, a fair old whack of chaos, and a great deal of laughter.

And what’s the play about? Well – a group of soldiers return from the war to a household in Messina, kindling new love interests and re-kindling old rivalries. The parallel love stories of Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio and Hero quickly become entangled with scheming, frivolity and melodrama in Shakespeare’s famous comedy.

“The HandleBards’ Much Ado About Nothing delivers on everything” – Liverpool Echo

Visit www.handlebards.com to find out more!

HMS Pinafore by Gilbert & Sullivan

Welcome on board HMS Pinafore, flagship of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy – the perfect place to mock such
stalwart institutions as Government, Patriotism and even the Great British Class system! No wonder Queen
Victoria made her most famous utterance about the original production in 1878: “We are NOT amused!”
Josephine, the captain’s daughter, is in love with Ralph, a common sailor. But her social-climbing father
insists that she is to marry Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty – whose roving eye has already
noticed her. The young lovers are caught as they elope from the ship and Ralph is locked in the ship’s
dungeon. Can revelations made by Buttercup, the dockside vendor, enable everyone to marry their true
hearts’ loves? Full to the gunwales with sharp dialogue and catchy tunes, this timeless comic opera is
performed outdoors by a cast of six outstanding performers from the world of musical theatre, on a
spectacular nautical set and using Sir Arthur Sullivan’s full score.

Performed by award-winning Illyria in the great outdoors.

Illyria supports the Equity union’s Charter for Outdoor Theatre.

The Comedy Of Errors

Pedalling from venue to venue with all of their set, props and costumes on the back of their bikes, the HandleBards are a four-strong troupe of actors who are spending the summer bringing environmentally sustainable Shakespeare to venues across the UK.

Join the troupe in Bowring Park for a bicycle-powered production of Shakespeare’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’ like you’ve never seen before. When two sets of estranged twins are brought together on the same island, this classic comedy takes hold, with mistaken identity, music and manic costume changes a plenty.

This is an outdoor production, so please bring a chair or blanket to sit on, a picnic to dig into, and dress for the weather!

The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle

Doctor Dolittle leads a simple life as the village doctor in sleepy Puddleby-On-The-Marsh. He often undercharges his patients, or even treats them for free, so he is terribly poor. But one day, with the help of his wise old parrot Polynesia, he makes an extraordinary discovery: that he can talk to animals.

As news of his talent as an animal doctor spreads, animals across the world send messages asking for his help. So he borrows a leaky old ship and embarks on a thrilling quest to cure illness, spread kindness, and better understand animals everywhere.

He is joined on his adventures by a loyal animal crew: Jip (a dog), Chee-Chee (a monkey), Dab Dab (a duck), and Gub Gub (an ever-hungry, cake-loving pig) –who together may even help him fix his money problems once and for all!

Hugh Lofting’s timeless classic celebrates the power of empathy and inspires audiences young and old to see the world through the eyes of animals. This funny, exciting new family musical is performed with flair and wit by Illyria in the great outdoors.

Julius Caesar

Rome 44BC. Egotistical Emperor Julius Caesar is sweating (and it’s not just the heatwave). His liberal Senators are a stabbing pain in the backside. They’ve had enough! Rome is in chaos, trust in the government is weak and the emperor’s fate is written in the stars (or the ‘entrails of a goat’). The peasants are revolting as the most famous political coup in literature is given the Oddsocks treatment. Expect the tearing of togas, the swishing of roman swords, some preposterous puppetry and the biggest battle scene five actors have ever created.

On your marcus, getus setus, let the games begin!