Open-air Opera set for Stafford Festival Shakespeare return

Summer is only round the corner and tickets are selling fast for this year’s Stafford Festival Shakespeare production of Macbeth, which will feature an open-air performance of a celebrated opera for the second year running.

Following last year’s performance of The Magic Flute at Stafford Castle, Heritage Opera – Northwest England’s professional touring opera company – will return to Stafford Festival Shakespeare with a heady mix of love, lust and murder in Bizet's classic opera, Carmen.

Experience melody after wonderful melody, as 1920s Seville comes to life in a vividly intimate chamber version of this classic story.

'The Habanera', 'Flower Song' and 'The Toreador's Song' are among the world's best-loved tunes. Together with the passionate drama of the fateful love triangle between Carmen, the wild gypsy girl, Don José, the brooding, obsessive soldier and Escamillo, the strutting Toreador, they make this the perfect evening for beginners and opera aficionados alike.

The world's most popular opera is presented by a fully professional cast, a local children’s chorus,

and supported by a 6-piece chamber orchestra.

Heritage Opera have been touring since 2006, and are delighted to be making their return to Stafford Castle in 2018.

Carmen will be performed at Stafford Castle on Sunday 1st July at 6.30pm. Tickets are priced at £22.50, with a concession price of £20.50 for over 60s, and for full time students, children and the unwaged at £5.50.

Full information can be obtained from the box office on 01785 619080 or by visiting the new website, www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk

Young performers wanted for Gatehouse Summer shows

Aspiring young performers are being urged to take up their opportunity to star in Stafford Gatehouse Theatre’s Summer Project productions of Our House or Disney’s the Little Mermaid Jnr, with auditions set to take place in just over two weeks’ time.

For the first time in the long tradition of Stafford Gatehouse Theatre Summer School, this year will see not one, but two, musical productions starring young performers from the local area.

The new format is titled Stafford Gatehouse Theatre Summer Project, and will begin with youngsters aged 7-12 rehearsing – and eventually performing – Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jnr in the MET Studio.

Later on, performers aged 13-21 will take on the Madness Musical Our House in the main auditorium.

****The only way to gain a place in either show is to attend the open auditions****

Places are available for youngsters aged between 7 and 21 who live in or attend a school in Staffordshire. Previous years have seen up to 150 children battle it out for spaces in recent productions, which have included: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Loserville, The Wizard of Oz, Doctor Dolittle, Whistle Down the Wind and Peter Pan.


Auditions will take place on Sunday 22nd April at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre. The first session is at 9.30am for 7-12 year olds, followed by a session at 2pm for 13 – 21 year olds.

Parents of auditionees will need to have in place at the time of the audition a valid enhanced DBS licence* (dated within the last three years). *Please note this is non-refundable

For more information about DBS or Chaperone licences, contact EW.statutoryactions@staffordshire.gov.uk or call 01785 278927 / 01785 277409

The Summer School sessions will start on Monday 23rd July, with the production of Disney’s The

Little Mermaid Jnr opening on Wednesday 1st and running until Saturday 4th August in the MET Studio, and the production of Our House opening on Wednesday 8th and running until Saturday 11th August in the main auditorium.

Further information can be obtained by calling Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on 01785 619080 or by visiting www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk.  Audition packs can also be downloaded from the Gatehouse Theatre website.

Young performers shed light on local history to commemorate WWI centenary

To commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One, members of Stafford Gatehouse Youth Theatre are busy preparing for a unique production centred on Staffordshire history during the Great War period. Entitled, The Town the Great War Built, the play has been written by Director Nick Earnshaw and will premier in the MET Studio later this month.

In the Autumn of 1914, only months after the outbreak of WWI, construction began on two large camps on Cannock Chase. Eventually, an entire town was created where the soldiers would live and train. It would often become the final stop before travelling to Europe to face an uncertain future.

Inspired by this piece of local history, Director Nick together with members of SGYT Group 7 have been devising a piece of theatre based around the experience of individuals who lived at the War Camps. SGYT were approached by the Friends of Cannock Chase to begin to research and develop a piece which brings to life their research on soldiers who trained and lived at the camps during this time. Using photographs, maps, diary entries, postcards and visitor book messages, SGYT Group 7 conducted workshops and improvised characters and situations to determine what individuals and events to focus on.

Director Nick Earnshaw says:

“I knew about a training facility on the Chase during the Great War but it was apparent very early on in the research process just how much I did not know about the impact on the local area and the general experience of the soldiers who trained and lived there. Writing this play has been a real eye opener to the struggle, emotion and hope right on our door step 100 years ago. The fact a whole town was created, with a WH Smith, its own Theatre, Cinema, Water Tower and YMCA Huts, is a part of our history in Stafford, a history not known by all. The stories of the individuals who lived there are moving, funny and compelling.

The play will tell the story of eight soldiers and a lot of the dialogue from the play come right from the letters sent back home.”

The initial showcase of the project will take place at the MET Studio in April. Following this, the play will also be performed during October this year at the Gatehouse and at the Great War Hut at Cannock Chase Visitor Centre, as well being turned into a short film.

The Town the Great War Built will be performed in the MET Studio at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on Wednesday 18th to Friday 20th April 2018 at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at £7.50, with a concession price of £6.50, and are available from the Box Office on 01785 619080 or via www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk