Hall set fair for playful summer

Last year, attendances of more than 2,200 in total saw a record donation of £5,500 to the Lytham Hall Appeal fund, which was recently handed over by the outdoor season organiser Julian Wilde.

Chapterhouse Theatre Company launch the new season and their own summer tour at Lytham Hall on Sunday June 14.

The company will present Richard Main’s production of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre, adapted for the stage by Laura Turner.

Red Rose theatre fans will welcome Illyria back to the Hall, after three successful shows last summer, with director Oliver Gray’s production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at 6 pm on Sunday July 5.

The company brought the Bard to the venue last year with an adaptation of Macbeth, right, and Oliver is looking forward to the return.

“We love the enthusiasm of our army of loyal followers on the Lancashire coast,” he said,

“And news of Shakespeare on an early Sunday evening is meeting with much approval!”

On Tuesday July 14 the Hall will host one of the first performances by Illyria of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.

This fifth musical production by the company, following a triumph with Pirates of Penzance in 2014, will subsequently play around 50 open air dates throughout the country.

To complete the programme, there is a family treat on Sunday August 23 with Illyria’s take on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a show full of explosions and magic.

Julian Wilde, organising the season, said he was “delighted” with the variety of the 2015 programme.

“I think the balance in next summer’s programme will have a strong appeal.

“Everyone will be hoping for a repeat of the glorious weather of last year for each of the four plays and I am confident Lytham Hall will again be among the best attended venues in the country for outdoor theatre.”

Details of ticket prices and sales points are expected towards the end of January.