The King's Troupe from Hebden Bridge perform at Stratford on Avon

Monday, 3 September 2012

Bank Holiday weekend saw nearly a full company make their way to the Dell outdoor theatre in Stratford on Avon to perform their production of Shakespeare's King Henry IV Part 1.

Preparing for the robbery at Gadshill . . . Photo by Patrick Mateer

Originally performed at the 'Inn on the Bridge' it was a great achievement to make the production work on a large and impressive outdoor stage, just yards from Holy Trinity Church where the great bards bones are buried.

Invited by the RSC to perform as part of the World Shakespeare Festival 2012, the Hebden Bridge based troupe had been selected as one of the most innovative and exciting inter-generational amateur theatre companies producing Shakespeare in the UK.

Sunday was full of sunshine and they gained access to the Dell with enough time to decorate it with all manner of colourful banners, paintings and flags. The performance itself gained a respectable audience of several hundred drawn in by the music and the drumming (many thanks to Sam Stelling & Colin Grant for coming in at the last moment) and was opened by a musician plus a stiltwalker W James Dargan-Cole, with stilts loaned courtesy of the 'Handmade Parade'.

The King's Troupe at The Dell, Stratford on Avon
26th August 2012 . . . Photo by Debs Paine

The play was adapted and directed by Mary Coaten. Mary welcomes new members to the troupe and if interested in our next production please contact her on: marycoaten@hotmail.co.uk