Please note that unfortunately this production has been cancelled as not enough people auditioned. I would still recommend a visit to Caversham Court, it is a beautiful spot.
With the Reading Post claiming that it is going to cost £90,000 just to draw up a plan for the repair work needed to make the Abbey Ruins safe it looks like it will be some time before Progress will be putting on another Abbey Ruins Shakespeare. However, not wanting to go another summer without an outdoor Shakespeare, Progress is presenting The Merry Wives of Windsor in the newly renovated Caversham Court Gardens.
Caversham Court gardens are on Church Street, Caversham. They were originally laid out between 1660 and 1681 as private gardens but are now owned by Reading Borough Council and are open to the public. It is a beautiful setting by the Thames and if you visit between Thursday and Sunday there is a tea kiosk selling homemade cakes for local charities - I can recommend the flapjacks.
The Merry Wives of Windsor is directed by Anne Latto who has experience of open air Shakespeare productions. She has directed two at the Abbey Ruins, As You Like It in 2001 and The Winter's Tale in 2006. Anne describes The Merry Wives of Windsor as a "rumbustious farce" based around the efforts of Sir John Falstaff to win the affections (and husbands' money) of two wives. It is more accessible than some Shakespeare plays being written mostly in prose. Falstaff first appears as a character in Henry IV and the story is that Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor very quickly after Queen Elizabeth expressed a desire to see Falstaff in love.
If you are interested in being part of this fun production then come along to one of the auditions on Sunday 18th April - Progress Theatre, The Mount Reading 2.00 p.m. or Wednesday 21st April - Park United Reformed Church, Palmer Park Avenue, Wokingham Road, Reading, 7.30 p.m. You may then be asked to a call back audition on Sunday 25th April 2.00p.m. at Progress Theatre. The performance dates are 26th to 31st July and rehearsals start on May 11th. For this production you must be 16 or older to audition. For more details contact Anne on 0118 9484454 or anne_latto@yahoo.co.uk
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Don't forget...
Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn is on now and runs until 24th April
Coming up...
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh 20 - 29 May 2010
See www.progresstheatre.co.uk for details of all our productions and auditions.
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