Shakespeare in the Squares today announces the full cast for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the company’s fourth production touring London’s glorious private squares and gardens. Tatty Hennessy directs Gemma Barnett (Hermia/Snug/Fairy), Paul Giddings (Theseus/Oberon/Quince), Jodie Jacobs (Bottom/Egeus), Sioned Jones (Hippolyta/Titania), David Leopold (Lysander/Starveling), Riad Ritchie (Demetrius/Snout), Hannah Sinclair Robinson (Helena/Flute) and James Tobin (Puck/Philostrate). The production runs from 19 June to 11 July, with press night at Arundel and Ladbroke Gardens on 25 June.
Shakespeare’s wild play of love and magic is transplanted to 1920s Britain, a country bruised by battle and economic hardship where our lovers chafe against the constraints and conventions of an older generation and seek to find freedom in the forest. There they stumble upon a riotous world untouched by time, still revelling in illusion. Moonlight suffuses this drama, bringing romance and a touch of madness – even in an oppressive world, all manner of things can happen under cover of night.
Gemma Barnett plays Hermia/Snug/Fairy. Her theatre credits include A Hundred Words For Snow (VAULT Festival/Trafalgar Studios), Lola (VAULT Festival), Cinderella: A Wicked Mother of A Night Out (UK tour), Flog (Camden People's Theatre), Roosting (Park Theatre), Oil and Matter (The Bunker), Cousins (Soho Theatre) and Spring Storm (The North Wall).
Paul Giddings plays Theseus/Oberon/Quince. His theatre credits include Time and Tide (Park Theatre), People Like Us (Union Theatre), Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Rose Theatre Kingston/UK tour), My Night with Reg (Apollo Theatre), The Vote (Donmar Warehouse), Handbagged (UK tour), The Mousetrap, The Woman In White, Besame Mucho (Charing Cross Theatre), 1000 Polar Bears On A Beach In Kent (Southwark Playhouse), Spitting Image, Superman and Me (King’s Head Theatre), Entertaining Mr. Orton (Arcola Theatre), Clench (Greenwich Theatre) and Be Civil, Disobey (Lost Theatre). His television credits include The Vote; and for film, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The Hippopotamus.
Jodie Jacobs renews her collaboration with Shakespeare in the Squares to play Bottom/Egeus, having appeared in As You Like It. Other credits include Unexpected Joy, Bananaman and Carrie (Southwark Playhouse), Dick Whittington (Lyric Hammersmith), Myth (The Other Palace), Lizzie (Greenwich Theatre), Disaster – The Musical (Charing Cross Theatre), Oliver! (Grange Park Opera), Rock of Ages (Garrick Theatre), Footloose, The Wedding Singer (UK and Ireland tour), We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre), Fame (Aldwych Theatre), Evita (Adelphi Theatre) and Little Shop of Horrors (Duke of York’s Theatre). Her work for television includes The Amazing World of Gumball and Drop Zone.
Sioned Jones plays Hippolyta/Titania. Her theatre credits include 13, Women Beware Women, All's Well That Ends Well, Oedipus, Never So Good (National Theatre), A Woman of No Importance (Vaudeville Theatre), Lettice and Lovage (Menier Chocolate Factory), Shakespeare in Love (Noël Coward Theatre), Shadowlands (Novello Theatre/Wyndham’s Theatre), The Letter (Wyndham’s Theatre), Glorious! (Duchess Theatre), Tolstoy (Aldwych Theatre), Henry VI (Wales Millennium Centre), The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me (Birmingham Rep), 101 Dalmatians (The Castle Theatre) and Pippin and The Wild Party (Union Theatre). Her television credits include Cadfael; and for film, Happy Now and Dark Signal.
David Leopold plays Lysander/Starveling. His theatre credits include Bury the Hatchet (The Hope Theatre), Late Company (Trafalgar Studios/Finborough Theatre), Muted (The Bunker), Burnt Part Boys (Park Theatre), Little Sure Shot (Theatre Royal Bath) and Uncle Vanya, Polar Bears and The Crucible (West Yorkshire Playhouse).
Riad Ritchie plays Demetrius/Snout. His theatre credits include The Show in Which Hopefully Nothing Happens (Unicorn Theatre), Timon of Athens, Tartuffe, Tamburlaine (RSC), Macbeth, Frankenstein (Ovalhouse), Romeo and Juliet (Theatre Royal Bath) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (Tower of London).
Hannah Sinclair Robinson renews her collaboration with Shakespeare in the Squares as Helena/Flute, having appeared in Romeo and Juliet. Her theatre credits include Water Bread and Salt (Tangle International), Timothy (VAULT Festival) and Border Control (UK tour). Her television credits include Killer Cops; and for film, Urban Decay
James Tobin plays Puck/Philostrate. His theatre credits include The Snow Queen, Finding Peter (Theatre N16), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry IV, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors (Merely Theatre), Pyramus and Thisbe, MATES, The Wall (Rift Theatre), Valley of the Weird (VAULT Festival) and No Allergens (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch).
Tatty Hennessy is an award-winning playwright, dramaturg and director. She continues her collaboration with Shakespeare in the Squares with A Midsummer Night’s Dream following her productions of As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet for the company. Her previous directing credits include her own adaptation of The Snow Queen (Theatre N16), a revival of her first play All That Lives (Ovalhouse Theatre) and Acorn (The Courtyard Theatre). Hennessy was the Baylis Assistant Director at The Old Vic in 2018, where she assisted on Max Webster’s production of Fanny & Alexander. As a writer, she won the Heretic Voices competition in 2017 with her play A Hundred Words for Snow, which received an acclaimed production at the Arcola Theatre in 2018 before a run at Trafalgar Studios this year.
ABOUT SHAKESPEARE IN THE SQUARES
Founded by Sue Fletcher and Martin Neild in 2016, Shakespeare in the Squares is a not-for-profit touring theatre company that stages a Shakespeare play across London squares and parks every summer. The productions are tailored to the individual garden squares, and the company works with the garden committees and other local organisations to create a unique community celebration around the play. The company aims to provide a showcase for talented young theatre practitioners and to introduce audiences to the stars of the future. The company’s previous productions include As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing which performed to sell-out audiences.
www.shakespeareinthesquares.co.uk
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Schedule for Summer 2019
All performances at 7pm unless stated
Wednesday 19 June Leinster Square, W2
Thursday 20 June St James’s Gardens, W11
Friday 21 June Norland Square, W11
Saturday 22 June Queen's Park, NW6
Sunday 23 June Camden Square, NW1
Tuesday 25 June Arundel and Ladbroke Gardens, W11 2EP (press night – nearest tube stations are Ladbroke Grove and Holland Park)
Wednesday 26 June Paulton’s Square, SW3
Thursday 27 June St James’s Square, SW1
Friday 28 June Paddington Street, W1 (3pm matinee)
Paddington Street W1 (7pm evening)
Saturday 29 June Little Wormwood Scrubs Park, W10
Sunday 30 June Ladbroke Square Gardens, W11
Tuesday 2 July Cornwall Gardens, SW7
Wednesday 3 July Connaught Square, W2
Thursday 4 July Elgin and Arundel Gardens, W11
Friday 5 July Bedford Square, WC1 (part of the Bedford Square Festival)
Saturday 6 July St Peter’s Square, W6
Sunday 7 July The Courtyard at le Gothique, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, Wandsworth, SW18 (3pm matinee)
Tuesday 9 July The Courtyard at le Gothique, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, Wandsworth, SW18 (7pm evening)
Wednesday 10 July Formosa Garden, W9. (NB GARDEN)
Thursday 11 July Cleveland Square, W2
Shakespeare in the Squares kindly thanks the following sponsors for their support: Carringtons, Chestertons, Domus Nova, Durbar Restaurant, Garden Square News, Hayes Parsons, Jeroboams, John D Wood & Co, Knight Frank, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Vickers Independent Estate Agent, Westbourne Block Management.
