Shakespeare
1. Cambridge Shakespeare Festival
The city’s own summer festival of Shakespeare continues this month, taking place in beautiful college garden settings that are rarely glimpsed by the general public. Sparky comedy Much Ado About Nothing, the story of Beatrice and Benedick, is at Trinity College; A Midsummer Night’s Dream unfolds at St John’s, Timon of Athens explores fate and fortune at Robinson College’s outdoor stage and Macbeth will face his fears and the supernatural in King’s College gardens. All shows run from 3 to 22 August, tickets £16 (12 concessions).
2. Much Ado About Nothing, Globe On Tour
Shakespeare’s Globe on Tour stops off in Cambridge this August, setting up camp in The Master’s Garden, Corpus Christi College, for five days of Elizabethan-style comedy. On a traditional wooden stage, these top-of-their-game performers will present Much Ado About Nothing: a story of love, wit and dark twists. Claudio and Hero are inseparable – nothing can keep them apart. Benedick and Beatrice, meanwhile, are at each other’s throats – surely nothing can bring them together. While their delicious sparring clearly reveals deeper, hidden passions (clear to all but themselves), only a trick will get them to confess their love. Though one of Shakespeare’s most enjoyable romps, Much Ado also visits the darker countries of shame, court politics and deception. The play will be performed outside: bring your own chairs and rugs and dress for all weathers. It’s on 25-30 August (7pm Tues to Sat; 2pm Thur, Sat & Sun), and tickets £20.
3. Love’s Labours Lost, Heartbreak Productions
Take a frivolous frolic through the grounds of Wimpole Hall with Heartbreak Productions who are putting their own twist on Shakespeare’s classic court comedy. In a prestigious Oxford college, three young men forgo their social life in pursuit of knowledge – until the arrival of three charming young ladies threatens to crumble their worthy principles. Bring a picnic, warm jumper and something to sit on, and arrive early to bag the best spot. Gates open 6.30pm, 29 August; tickets £14 (£10 children).
4. Twelfth Night, Nasu Enzuru
Bohemian outdoor theatre maestros Nasu Enzuru return for a summer stint at three different locations across the city, performing one of Shakespeare’s most popular tales, Twelfth Night.
On 20 August, they’ll be at The Willow Tree in Bourn, an enchanting gastropub with vintage interiors and a beautiful garden, dominated by a cascading willow tree. Gather in the gardens and watch the story of shipwrecked twins, mistaken identity and misplaced affections unfold as day turns to night. Arrive early and enjoy great food from the pop-up Rabbit Hole restaurant, then relax and watch the pre-show entertainment from the Willow Tree’s tipi lounge. From 21 to 25 August, they’ll be taking the play to Burwash Manor, Barton, before coming to the city centre for extra special performances at Scudamore’s Punt Station, 27 to 30 August. Settle on the banks of the Cam as the barefoot players re-enact the Bard’s tale. All performances start at 7.30pm.
Nasu Enzuru are a gypsy-punk ensemble who make immersive theatre with a dash of circus, sass and magic. Their shows feature live music and fantastic costumes. Tickets £15 (£12 concessions) from www.wegottickets.com. (search for Nasu Enzuru Twelfth Night).
5. The Taming of the Shrew, CAST
The theatre company established under the patronage of Dame Judi Dench present a preview production of The Taming of the Shrew at Ely Cathedral this month. Lovely Bianca can’t accept a suitor until her contrary sister Katherina is wed, leading to family frictions, comedy and drama as one bold young gentleman, Petruccio, attempts to tame this untamable ‘shrew’. But is he worthy of her love or will he go too far to break her spirit? 7.30pm, 27 August is your chance to see the latest production by this celebrated Cambridge University company before they take the show to the United States.
More outdoor entertainment
Casablanca, pop-up cinema
“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine…” Spend a relaxing late-summer evening in the company of Bergman and Bogey as Hope Street Yard hosts an open-air pop-up cinema for one night only. There’ll be cocktails by La Raza and delicious burgers from Steak & Honour at 8pm before the celluloid starts rolling at 8.30pm, showing that seminal picture from Hollywood’s golden age, Casablanca. Released in 1942, Casablanca transports us to unoccupied Africa during the early days of the Second World War, where nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs into an old flame (Ingrid Bergman).
It’s on 22 August, tickets are £8 from EventBrite, with funds being donated to Mill Road’s Festive Lights fund. Fancy dress optional!
Emma, Heartbreak Productions
What better setting for Jane Austen’s splendidly English story than the splendidly English grounds of Wimpole Hall? In Highbury, Surrey, Emma Woodhouse is queen of all she surveys. Clever but bored, she sets about finding matches for her friends and neighbours – meanwhile unlocking the hidden desires of her own heart. Published in 1816, Emma is a humorous study of life in small-town Regency England featuring a colourful cast of characters, from the endearingly irritating Miss Bates and the buffoonish clergyman Mr Elton, to quietly dashing Mr Knightly and of course, Emma herself – arch, self-assured but ultimately clueless.
Takes place 31 July. The barbecue will be fired up from 6.30pm, then settle on the lawn (bring a rug or a chair) before the performance starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £14 (£10 children).
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wimpole-estate
Movies on the Meadows
Recent box office hits, cinema classics and family films old and new will be screened on Grantchester Meadows this August bank holiday weekend.
A precursor to Cambridge Film Festival, Movies on the Meadows takes place from 29 to 31 August and sees the meadows transformed into a wild, open-air cinema. Spread out a rug by the riverbank and watch as three giant, inflatable screens emerge, showing three different hit movies. On 29 August, choose between 2001: A Space Odyssey, Paddington and The Theory of Everything. On 30th it’s Back To The Future, Brief Encounter and The Railway Children, and on 31 August see Far From The Madding Crowd, All That Heaven Allows or Letter From An Unknown Woman.
Movies on the Meadows is one of Cambridge’s most anticipated and enchanting events. No one wants to be shut up in a hot, darkened cinema at this time of year: and what better way to spend a summer evening than outdoors, under the stars, with a bunch of friends watching a great movie? Bring a bottle, a picnic and your favourite woolly jumper (for when the temperature drops) to complete the picture. Films start around 8pm, gates open 6pm.
www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk
