Welcome
"Is there any other group, amateur or professional, apart possibly from the RSC, which could fill any venue in Teesdale for four nights with any work by the Bard?"
The Castle Players is a community drama group based in Barnard Castle, County Durham. It is a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity. Since establishing in the late 1980s, The Castle Players has become one of the region’s leading non-professional theatre companies.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,"
On July 9th to 13th, 2013, The Castle Players will present A Midsummer Night's Dream in the grounds of the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. The Dream has it all - fairies, lovers, heroes, comedy, drama, confused identities, and a play-within-a-play. 2013 marks The Castle Players' 25th anniversary season of outdoor productions.
Tickets are now on sale and selling fast!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare's most popular comedy. It portrays the adventures of four star-crossed young lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with woodland fairies and a duke and duchess. Taking place in a mythical Athens and an enchanted forest, there is a powerful fairy king and a bewitching fairy queen, a weaver who is transformed into an ass, and lots of other strange characters and events. The play is about the world's most popular pastime, falling in love. But as Lysander observes, "the course of true love never did run smooth."
This production of The Dream follows on the heels of last summer’s highly acclaimed As You Like It which was one of only 14 productions selected by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) from 750 nationwide to be performed in Stratford last July as part of the RSC’s Cultural Olympiad Open Stages Festival.
The Northern Echo: Players Prepare for their Summer of Shakespeare
The Northern Echo: Can you help make The Castle Players' dream come true?
Name the Beer Competition
Monday, May 13th, 2013
Barnard Castle
The Castle Players, a community theatre company based in Barnard Castle, have been producing major outdoor theatre productions for over 20 years. The inspiration for starting The Castle Players came during a game of Charades, which took place during a blackout in The Old Well Inn. Last year they felt it was apt to celebrate their production of ‘As You Like It’ with a special beer produced by local brewery Mithril Ales at Aldbrough St John named ‘Beer As you Like It’.
Read more...
RSC Open Stages 2011-2012
In 2012, The Castle Players was part of the RSC's UK-wide Open Stages project which involved over 260 amateur theatre companies and an astounding 7,000 amateur performers. The Castle Players was one of only 14 participants invited to perform on the RSC's stage in Stratford-upon-Avon. Read more...
