Given that the great bard himself considered all the world to be a stage, it is not without irony that we have bought a stage for a Shakespearean theatre company. I get one sentence out of it; Shakespeare could have fashioned an entire play.
Rainbow Theatre have been staging summer evening, outdoor, almost dream-like Shakespeare in the stunning surrounds of Highdown Gardens for many years now and, despite the healthy crowds that always fill the upper lawn with rugs and deck chairs and the occasional picnic basket, it still feels like one of Worthing’s best kept secrets.
It’s an absolutely perfect setting for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but they can’t do that every year. It works well for Twelfth Night too (or, indeed, for any other comedy where characters keep disappearing off into the woods). But this year, it was The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
If you want pro-standard, interactive, accessible Shakespeare almost on your doorstep, then buy some tickets for next year’s season and spread the word. Try it and see. As Hamlet said, “the play’s the thing.”