It may well be the onset of the colder months of winter, but surely it’s worth daydreaming a little about summer evenings in the park still, and the announcement of the Open Air Theatre 2016 lineup is as good a reason as any to kick things off. Having fielded everything from To Kill A Mockingbird, Peter Pan and Lord Of The Flies in previous years, there’s always a good amount of anticipation for the coming season in Regent’s Park.
The 2016 lineup features love, loss, pride and war to deliver another exciting series of plays that will run throughout the summer months. The first outing to take to the impressive al fresco stage will be an adaptation of Michael Morpugo’s Running Wild, telling the story of Will, his elephant Oona and their escape from the devastation of a tsunami strike, only to face the challenge of surviving in the danger of the Indonesian rainforest.
Adapted by Samuel Adamson, and directed by the Open Air Theatre’s artistic director, Timothy Sheader, and the original Chichester production director, Dale Rooks, the play will run from the 13th May to the 12th June 2016. With puppetry design and direction from the same team that worked on massive international theatre hit, War Horse, it should be a visually stunning production, whether you like war and indeed horses or not.
The second play will then be William Shakespeare’s Henry V (17th June – 9th July 2016), directed by Donmar Warehouse associate director, Robert Hastie. Centred around the Battle Of Agincourt and the King of England’s famous victory against the French forces of Charles VI, it’s an ambitious play for the Open Air Theatre to tackle and it’ll be interesting to see how it’s portrayed on the relatively narrow boards of the stage.
Following that, Regent’s Park turns its attention to the theological extravaganza that is Jesus Christ Superstar, running from the 15th July to the 27th August 2016. Directed by Tomothy Sheader, with choreography from Drew McOnie, the over-the-top musical will be blasting out on the woodland hideaway stage as part of the 45 year anniversary of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice show. For us it’s the lesser of the four plays in the lineup, but if you’re a fan of musicals with a religious twinkle then it might be one to add to the calendar.
The final production of the season will be Jane Austin’s Pride And Prejudice, which will be gracing the stage from the 2nd to the 17th September 2016, giving you a chance to see the romance and comedy of Pemberley up close. The Simon Reade adaptation is directed by Deborah Bruce and will be making it’s merry way around the UK with a tour following its time at the Open Air Theatre, following the success of both To Kill A Mockingbird and Lord Of The Flies, which did the same in previous years.
Ticket prices range from £20 to £43.50, depending on how close you want to sit to the front or how central you are to the proceedings, and they’re already available to buy from the box office on 0844 826 4242.
