Outdoor theatre production is a dream ticket for families to shout at the baddies and cheer the goodies
Shakespeare’s greatest comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream will light up a Derbyshire park in an outdoor production by Oddsocks theatre company.
The story of woodland creatures playing tricks on runaway lovers and an amateur actors’ rehearsal being disrupted by fairies will be performed at Markeaton Park’s Craft Village, Derby from July 23 to 25, 2025.
Oddsocks have performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream many times over the past 36 years of touring. Artistic director Andy Barrow said: “We don’t meddle with the original text because it has a rhythm and language which is as funny to audiences today as it was when it was first performed four hundred and thirty years ago. What we will be bringing to the production is a familiar contemporary setting which theatrically transforms into the magical woods, the playgrounds of the fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania”.
Creative producer Elli Mackenzie said: “There is often a perception that Shakespeare is hard to understand and therefore boring, but people come along to see an Oddsocks performance and walk away having shouted at the baddies, cheered for the goodies and having laughed out loud. Our audiences come back year after year to see what we manage to do with each production as they know they are in for a treat”.
The current tour – which visited Brimington’s Thistle Park in June – takes the company from Cumbria to Dorset and on to the Channel Islands.
Performances at Markeaton Park Craft Village start at 7pm. Tickets cost £18 (adult) and £16 (concessions). Book at www.derbylive.co.uk/whats-on/a-midsummer-nights-dream2