Three great comedies await in a summer of fun at Tolethorpe

The Rutland Open Air Theatre offers the comforts of an indoor venue with the delights of an outdoor setting.

The covered auditorium faces an open air stage set within an idyllic woodland glade. There’s a great view from every one of the 600 seats, and the permanent canopy above means no performance is ever cancelled because of rain.

The theatre is situated in the grounds of historic Tolethorpe Hall. The beautiful gardens, enhanced by BBC gardener Bunny Guinness, overlook classic English parkland, where every night, for 12 weeks, hundreds of people enjoy picnics before heading into the auditorium to sit back, relax and be entertained.

The 2017 season opens on June 6 and this year features three wonderful comedies.

In a traditional, Elizabethan production of Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, four runaway lovers must spend the night in a dark and ominous wood. Meanwhile, in a nearby glade, humble workmen are rehearsing a play. They encounter the parallel universe of fairies, goblins and sprites, where all is not well between the fairy King and Queen.

It opens on June 6 and can be seen on various dates in June and July.

From the directors of 2013’s sell-out hit The Comedy of Errors comes Shakespeare’s funniest play, Much Ado About Nothing, full of witty love-duelling, comic villains and crazy chases.

Battle-weary heroes return from the First World War with their thoughts turning to romance, but the dastardly Don John and his comical sidekicks plot to scupper any romantic notions. Can the incompetent WPC Dogberry and the riotous ladies of ‘the watch’ foil their plans?

You can see it on various dates in June (opening 13) and August.

Hobson’s Choice is Harold Brighouse’s classic comedy about the hilarious trials and tribulations of bombastic boot-shop owner Henry Horatio Hobson and his three uppity daughters in 1880s Salford.

When Hobson teases his eldest daughter, Maggie, about being past the marrying age, she promptly retaliates by marrying his best boot-hand, Willie Mossop, and setting up a rival shop!

It opens on July 4 and can be seen on various dates through July and August.

Performances every night (excluding Sundays) at 7.45pm and matinées every Saturday at 1.30pm from June 6 to August 26 . Tickets priced £11 - £19.

Contact the box office on 01780 756133or go to www.stamfordshakespeare.co.uk