Worthing return for outdoor Shakespeare at last

The plays this year are As You Like It (July 12-17) and The Merry Wives Of Windsor (July 19-24). Judey will be in both – as Rosalind and Mistress Page.

The company kept a togetherness during the pandemic, but it’s wonderful to back for real: “There were things like the online read-throughs to make sure that people could still connect but this is the first proper plays since 2019 and I have missed it so much! It really feels like a long time.

“I've been part of the company on and off for the last 20 years. I started off with (company founder and artistic director) Nick (Young) when I was seven! And it has just always been there and I just don't feel like there is anything else like it, that has that history in Worthing in terms of what it does and what it is.

"And the gardens are so magical. You can have an independent day there and then the icing on the cake is to see the open-air show in the evening. All the actors come together from so many different walks of life and you see so many returning familiar faces. It just feels like a very special thing.”

And the great thing is that the Rainbow approach is an approach which makes Shakespeare completely accessible: “Since I did it as a child it feels like it has always been there and that approach has always made Shakespeare understandable. The way that Nick does Shakespeare is that he explains it so well. It doesn't feel like people are pontificating. He manages to break it down to the actors and get across the story through expressions and gestures and you really understand the story. I've seen other Shakespeare productions and if you feel you are not getting the story it is because the actors are not putting that story across. If you have got a director that knows how to tell the story, it just makes such a difference. I think that is why so many children have that reticence about Shakespeare – they just don't feel that they can understand it. But with the way Nick does it you just feel you can tap into it so completely.”

As for the plays this year: “On a practical level you have to think about the number of female roles that you've got in the plays. We sometimes have female actors come on in male roles where it works and we have people who multi-role in the productions. You do have to be thinking at a very technical level of how many people you've got and how you can do it and I think this year is stretching us nicely. Usually we do a comedy and a tragedy or a history but I think this year Nick just really feels that people want to come back and have a good laugh after three years.”

But don't underestimate the challenge for the performers: “It is the first time I've done anything like this in terms of the extent of the two roles. I don't think I'd ever really appreciated how much one person can have to learn. And it is difficult but it is great fun to do. It tests you and it is quite daunting but As You Like It is such a great play. Merry Wives of Windsor is one of the lesser-known comedies, and it is very different from a romance. You've got the young lovers in As You Like It but Merry Wives is more like a cheeky Restoration comedy than anything. You've got two wives that realise that someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes and it's about tricking other people and being cheeky. It's a very different feeling. It is almost like the original Desperate Housewives!”

Tickets 01903 206206 or wtm.uk or on the gate 90 minutes before each show (cash only).