Shakespeare in the Orchard, Grounds of The Blackboys Inn, Blackboys
OUTDOOR events seldom work in Britain.
Instead of your Cath Kidston spotty rug and co-ordinated picnic hamper they tend to involve brollies, plastic maps and a good dose of Dunkirk spirit.
That's why it was a miracle to go along to Shakespeare in the Orchard, billed as 'an afternoon in the open air in the grounds of a beautiful 14 century pub' in Blackboys on Sunday.
The sun broke through, the orchard was enchanted, the players were professional, the hog roast and paella looked, smelt and tasted delicious and the Pimms bar under the apple trees was mostly hidden behind a crush of customers in suntops and T-shirts.
Even the occasional wasp or vintage plane en route home from Airbourne couldn't dampen proceedings.
The performance was presented by the Yellowtale Theatre Company set up by Blackboys couple Robin and Rebecca Belfield in 2007.
It was their first local venture and hopefully will lead to lots more.
Extracts from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It and Measure for Measure were interspersed with sonnets and shorter, familiar soliloquys.
They were performed with humour, passion, accuracy and sensitivity by Philip Desmeules, Dan Winter, Sarah Jane Wolverson and Suzie Zara, all of whom had notched up pretty good CVs with West End, experimental theatre, RSC, radio and TV experience.
The magic lay in the mix of sublime setting, sunshine and pitch perfect delivery of some of most resonant lines on the planet.
If you see them billed anywhere again - village hall, garden or capital city theatre - make sure you book a ticket.
Susan King
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Lewes
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
