Child Friendly Shakespeare at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple

A musical Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare 4 Kidz is coming to the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple.

Fairies and fun, royalty and romance, magic and misunderstandings: A Midsummer Night’s Dream has them all and more. So, little wonder this enchanting play is one of the most popular ever written.

The Bard’s comedy gets a magical transformation from Shakespeare 4 Kidz, whose musical version has proved a huge hit every time it has toured. There are songs, dances and lots of spellbinding effects as the fairies create a world of wonder in the woods.  Every S4K show uses the whole Shakespearean plot but uses only the most famous original lines and slots them into modern language so that everyone – even the youngest primary school children – can understand.

This child-friendly version of the play visits the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple for four shows in October. Performances are at 1.30pm and 7.30pm on Monday October 18 and 10am and 1.30pm on Tuesday October 19.

A galaxy of S4K celebrity fans have already sent good luck messages for the show:

Dame Judi Dench: (Titania at the Rose in Kingston this year): “I am happy to support any approach that helps children to understand Shakespeare’s plays and to realise that they are about emotions that we all share – love, jealousy, anger etc – all of which can be found in The Dream!”

Dame Helen Mirren:  “Good wishes to Shakespeare 4 Kidz. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the Avatar of Shakespeare, with something to be enjoyed by all age groups, a great message and lots of fun and fantasy. Enjoy!”

Victoria Wood: “Good luck, stay cool – there’s nothing worse than a nervous Bottom!”

Tickets are £16 and £9.50 for a young person. A 60p Love Arts payment also applies to each seat sold. For further information or to book, call the Box Office on 01271 324242 or visit www.northdevontheatres.org.uk

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