In August, returning for the third year, is Ilkley Playhouse's popular fringe production Bard in the Yard.

In 2020, Bard in the Yard consisted of a selection of Shakespearian monologues. In 2021 half-hour versions of Macbeth and Twelfth Night were performed. In 2022 audiences were treated to a half-hour version of Romeo and Juliet and a thirty minute performance of Shakespearian duologues. All were extremely well-received and well-attended. This year you can look forward to half-hour adaptations of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

About Hamlet, director Dick Hebbert writes: “Hamlet seeks to avenge the murder of his father at the hands of his uncle, who, having killed Hamlet’s father has married Hamlet’s mother. In this version of one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays there’s a ghost, murder most foul, poison, plots, sword fights, a play-within-a-play, graveyards, a skull, two minor characters who later became stars in their own play and more quotable lines than you’ll find in the Oxford Book of English Verse.”

About A Midsummer Night’s Dream, director Andrew Leggott writes: “This is another play-within-a-play. Shakespeare’s best-loved comedy, as an ill-assorted bunch of rowdy workers aspire to thespian heights, impeded by the King and Queen of the fairies and their followers, led by the mischievous sprite, Puck. Oh, and a certain ass’s head plays a part too. No lovers in this production, to leave more room for the shenanigans of the fairies and mechanicals!”

Performances will take place at 7.30pm on Saturday 26th August in the Wildman Theatre and at 2pm in the Manor House Yard on Sunday 27th and Monday 28th August (Bank Holiday). To book for the Manor House performances, please book via their website www.ilkleymanorhouse.org

If the weather is inclement on the Sunday or Monday, there is the option of transferring back to Ilkley Playhouse which is less than five minutes’ walk away. Tickets are £6.