Classic adaptations to open Lytham Hall plays season

After record audiences this year, organiser Julian Wilde has been eager to give theatre fans an early taste of what to expect in 2022 and feels the programme offers “balance and diversity”.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men will open the season with Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It on Friday, June 17 following their sell-out performance of Macbeth on their first visit to the Hall this year.

Making their debut at the Hall on Friday, July 15 will be Heartbreak Productions with an adaptation of Jane Eyre.

Illyria, long a popular company at the venue, will then present family show Peter Pan on Friday, August 12 and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to days later followed by Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance on Sunday, August 21.

“We are still working on the details, but I have had many requests to make an early announcement of the titles and dates and I think that playgoers will be pleased with this variety.

“We always have a warm response from our audiences to adaptations of classic novels and the first two plays for the 2022 season will be the first time we have had a production of Jane Eyre.

“Heartbreak Productions, summer touring specialist sine 1991, are an experienced and accomplished company and I think we are in for a treat.

“The Lord Chamberlain’s Men received a standing ovation for Macbeth this summer and I am expecting a capacity audience for As You Like It which is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies.”

Proceeds from the plays go to the Lytham Hall Restoration Appeal.

Details of this year’s donation to the appeal fund from the record audiences which attended this year after just one play was possible in 2020, are expected to be announced later this month.

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