OPENING PROGRAMME

Find out What’s On at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Here are some of the highlights…
You can book tickets here.

9 to 10 September – As You Write It performances

The first plays to grace the Cockpit stage will be those written by three young winners of the As You Write It national playwriting competition, run in conjunction with BBC’s The One Show, as part of the theatre’s mission to nurture new talent.

The all-female trio of winners will showcase their work - All the World’s a Stage by Ruby, aged 15, from Lancashire; Telling Tales by Rosie, aged 11, from Ayrshire, and Nectarine by Ana, 17, from Brighton.

19 to 21 August – Serious Nonsense Festival

Shakespeare North Playhouse and Prescot Town Centre will be packed with nonsense for this massive three-day adventure celebrating Edward Lear’s connection to Knowsley.

Lear lived at Knowsley Hall and wrote his world-famous poem The Owl and the Pussycat there. To celebrate his love of all things nonsense and the fact that Knowsley is the Liverpool City Region Borough of Culture in 2022, the Serious Nonsense festival is coming to Prescot in August.

There will be plenty of quirky and fun family attractions to enjoy alongside a special programme of readings, performances and talks for all ages.

Full line up and ticket information is available here. 

22 September to 22 October - A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare’s classic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream - a co-production with Northern Stage and Not Too Tame.It is said that Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream to mark the wedding of Knowsley’s 6th Earl of Derby, William, to Elizabeth de Vere in the presence of Queen Elizabeth I.

Directed by Matthew Dunster, formerly associate director at both the Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe, the tale of young love, feuding fairies and mistaken identity gets a dose of realism in this brand-new version.

Co-directed by Warrington-born former rugby super league player turned actor Jimmy Fairhurst, of Shakespeare North Playhouse’s associate company Not Too Tame, it draws out themes of class struggle and teenagers on a raucous night out.