A NEW production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream promises even more magic and mischief than usual – and all in the open air.

The production, part of Oxford Shakespeare Festival, is full of colourful costumes and laugh-out-loud moments, and will be performed against the backdrop of Oxford Castle.

“We’re not opposed to occasionally tweaking Shakespeare to make things work!” laughs Ashley Harvey, co-founder of local theatre company BMH Productions.

“In the very first scene, where you’re introduced to Theseus and Hippolyta and their upcoming nuptials, they talk about the fact that world they live in is emerging from a plague. So we thought, let’s set it right now, in this in this this hopefully very joyous post-Covid summer, on the premise that this wedding has been delayed because of the plague.”

“The aim is to bring joy” says BMH co-founder Edward Blagrove. “It doesn’t have to be raucous laughter – a scene can be just beautiful to watch, and that that evokes joy.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs from now until August 7.

Tickets are available at oxfordcastleandprison.co.uk/events/event/a-midsummer-nights-dream/

Pictures by Cate Nunn