Eight actors (and one piano) perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in under 90 minutes, with no lighting, no set, and no intermission.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies. It follows events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta. The play is set in a forest and many of the events revolve around the adventures of four Athenian lovers and a group of actors who are controlled by the fairies.

The cast includes Royal Shakespeare Company actor Jan Knightley and is directed by Jaq Bessell, head of postgraduate study at the Guildford School of Acting. The performance is by the Performance Research Group, a collective of theatre professionals and actors in training, operating under the auspices of the Guildford School of Acting.

Its production of Macbeth won praise at last year’s festival, and recently closed its successful run at the European Shakespeare Research Association in Montpellier. The company’s small repertoire of Shakespeare productions explores the limits of the relationship between actor and audience in Shakespeare’s plays.

Supported by The Manor at Weston-on-the-Green.