AS I write, the only chance to see live theatre in Britain this summer is out of doors. The famous Minack Theatre in Cornwall is staging a revival of Marie Jones’s Stones In His Pockets, plus Willy Russell’s Educating Rita with Stephen Tompkinson; the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park is presenting a concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar and the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester is producing The Comedy of Errors.
These are a cheering reminder of the vital part alfresco theatre has always played in the British summer—and not only in Britain.
The Tempest ended with Ariel speeding across the surface of a lake to vanish in a shower of sparks
Theatre has a sustained outdoor history that starts with the day-long rituals that took place in Athens in the 5th century BC, embraces the 14th-century Mystery Plays that toured the streets and squares of Europe and includes the free performances of Shakespeare that take place under the night sky in New York’s Central Park.
Looking back, I’m also struck by how many of my own formative experiences, either as participant or spectator, took place in the great outdoors. In the summer of 1953, I took part in a Coronation Pageant in the grounds of Warwick Castle. Each local town supplied a relevant royal episode: one of them, if memory serves, somewhat incredibly showing Elizabeth I being introduced to a young William Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon. My own modest role involved shouting huzzahs as Queen Victoria arrived in a barouche to bestow a royal charter on Leamington Spa.
Denne historien er fra August 12, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 12, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
