An open air Shakespeare production is to be staged in Bramhope to mark the 450th anniversary of the playwright’s birth.

Leeds based Theatre of the Dales will present The Merry Wives of Windsor at different locations, including Golden Acre Park.

The company, which specialises in open air performances, will produce Shakespeare’s fastest and wittiest play at Kirkstall Abbey today and tomorrow, at Golden Acre Park on Tuesday, May 27 and at Lotherton Hall near Aberford on Friday, May 30.

The company has been taking small scale productions all over Yorkshire since 1997 and this is their first time at Golden Acre and Lotherton Hall.

“Both are such lovely settings. We hope to make them regular venues, building up audiences over the years,” said David Robertson the founder-director of Theatre of the Dales.

All performances are at 7pm and the audience is invited to bring picnics and folding chairs. Tickets are available on the gate but can be booked in advance at wegottickets.com for the three Kirkstall performances.

For more about Theatre of the Dales – see theatreofthedales.co.uk or phone (0113) 2740461 The play will also be staged on the lawn of Rawdon Quaker Meeting at 7.30pm on this Saturday, (May 17) to launch the 2014 Rawdon Amnesty concert series. Admission is free, with a collection for Amnesty International.  Some chairs and benches are available but audience members are advised to dress warmly and are free to bring blankets, cushions or deck chairs. If wet the performance will be indoors.

For further details on the Rawdon show, contact Barbara Parry (0113) 2503867 or Diane Exley (0113) 2502051.