01 Nov Find joy and celebrate Shakespeare at Chelmsford’s theatres
A celebration of Shakespeare plus a moving and funny drama about a grandson looking after his grandmother who has dementia are the upcoming dramatic highlights at Chelmsford’s Civic Theatre and Cramphorn Studio this November.
‘The Shakespeare Schools Festival’ will be taking place at The Civic Theatre on Monday 12 November at 7pm. Now in its 18th year the festival has 30,000 participants, 1,000 schools and involves 136 theatres across the UK. This year three local schools will present their abridged productions of the Bard’s greatest works. The Lyons Hall School will be performing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, The Ramsey Academy will perform ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and Columbus School and College will present ‘The Tempest’. The schools have been rehearsing for months and the night promises to be a unique and exhilarating experience.
Vamos Theatre returns to Chelmsford when they bring ‘Finding Joy’ to the Cramphorn Studio on Tuesday 6 November at 8pm. Vamos are famed for their full mask productions which give emotional insight and engaging storytelling mixed with physical dexterity. ‘Finding Joy’ was premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016, and it has been winning fans and high praise ever since. Danny is a bright, rebellious boy who is always getting into trouble. Danny’s gran, Joy, 83, is feisty and loves to dance. Joy is also starting to lose her memory. ‘Finding Joy’ is a touching, emotional and humorous story of when Danny decides to look after Joy, to rescue her from a frightening world of forgetfulness and walking down busy streets in her nightie. Together Danny and Joy discover a mutual playfulness and a growing love for each other. The play is suitable for 12 years plus.
To book tickets to see any of these events, visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres or call the Box Office on 01245 606505.
