Shakespeare North Playhouse celebrates first birthday

Shakespeare North Playhouse is celebrating its first birthday with a weekend of performances and tours.

The Prescot venue has attracted more than 100,000 visitors and staged 1,316 performances and 149 workshops and events since it opened its doors on July 15 last year.

In January it was named Theatre Building of the Year in The Stage Awards, while in May the Prospero Place theatre was officially opened by Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Its first anniversary events include a visit by associate company Shakespeare’s Globe which brings the Olivier Award-nominated family show Midsummer Mechanicals to the theatre from July 15-18.

Meanwhile Prescot-based Imaginarium Theatre will stage its version of The Taming of the Shrew in the Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden from July 14-16.

And there will also be free Birthday Bitesize tours across the weekend, along with new Technical Guided Tours.

This year Shakespeare North is marking the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s First Folio. Events planned for the autumn include a co-production of Macbeth with English Touring Theatre, the European premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will, and Sir Ken Dodd’s favourite The Wind in the Willows.

More details on this weekend’s Shakespeare North Playhouse first birthday celebrations HERE