There had been a long tradition of a Shakespeare play at the castle but for reasons unknown this slowly faded into a distant memory.
I decided that we should restart the tradition and we started with a Theatre company called ‘Taking Flight’ who performed a promenade performance of Twelfth Night in and around the castle grounds.
This proved very popular, but we realised audiences preferred to take a picnic and sit and enjoy a traditional performance with a stage.
In 2012, we found Illyria theatre company who specialise in outdoor performances of Shakespeare’s and others’ plays. They have performed Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s dream and As you like it, at Montgomery and have always been extremely well received by locals and visitors to the area.
As a result of much hard work, research and commitment to maintain an entertaining and recurring repertoire of performances, the audience has grown from 80 to 220 over the years.
Montgomery’s Shakespeare play at the castle is now a well-established event that provides very high standards of entertainment and performances each year for locals and visitors alike