Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot will celebrate the Bard’s birthday on April 27 with a packed open day of workshops and drop-in sessions for all ages, from masterclasses with renowned Shakespearean practitioner Ben Crystal to poetry workshops and storytelling.
Crystal will be offering actors across the Liverpool region a workshop of text exploration, while director Chris Tomlinson will host workshops for 14 to 18-year-olds, exploring some of Shakespeare's most famous characters and scenes.
TV writer Mandy Redvers Rowe will host Writing With Shakespeare’s Words for 11 to 14-year-olds, in which participants will use some of the many words that Shakespeare invented to create new pieces of writing.
For visitors aged 4-8, Story Telling with OG the Giant will be running throughout the day, as will children’s drama sessions for 8 to 11-year-olds.
In the evening, Becoming Othello by Debra Ann Byrd is an autobiographical solo show that chronicles the trials and triumphs of her life, including her encounter with a troupe of Shakespearean actors and her journey to playing Othello.
This year’s open day progamme has been aided by the Our Town’s Sound project, which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This year-long project focuses on the way language has developed in the local areas of Prescot, Knowsley and Merseyside, and is inspired by the idea that Shakespeare is credited with creating or adding 750 new words or phrases to our language. The project is uncovering how language has changed in the area, and the open day will offer a selection of workshops and drop-in sessions focused on the theme. One is a telephone box installation in the theatre cafe, in which visitors will be able to record messages about language unique to the local area.
More information, including timings and tickets, here