Ludlow Festival

The mainstay of the festival is, of course, the open air Shakespeare production staged within the grounds of historic Ludlow Castle.  This year’s offering is The Comedy of Errors and will be directed by Glen Walford, who makes a welcome return to the town following her sell-out production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream last year.  The Comedy of Errors will be staged every evening (except Sundays) throughout the festival and additional matinee performances will take place on Wednesdays.  Call the box office on the number below for more information.

As usual, the festival kicks off with A Shakespeare Day, showcasing five events throughout the day.  These range from talks such as Ludlow Houses during Shakespeare’s Life Span and Glen Walford giving a unique insight into this year’s production, to a lecture recital entitled Shakespeare and Raleigh; the Poet and the Popinjay and Diabolus in Musica, costumed musicians playing Elizabethan and Jacobean hits on an array of authentic 16th century instruments.  The day culminates with Sweet William a one-man Shakespeare production by the actor Michael Pennington.

Musical events in the wide ranging programme include the Country House Concert at Stokesay Court featuring The Valentini Trio performing works by Haydn, Dvorak, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn; Opera Box Company’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and this year’s orchestral concert Elgar and Beyond  performed by the Manchester Camerata, both at St. Lawrence’s.  The Guillami String Quartet makes a welcome return to the festival with their Lunchtime Concerts, featuring Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Bliss, Mendelssohn and Ravel.  If, however, Big Band music is more your scene, you can catch The Glenn Miller Orchestra performing arrangements from their library of more than 200 scores.

Speakers at the festival include the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, the writers and broadcasters Peter Snow and George Alagiah and the politician George Galloway with his talk entitled The World at War.

There will also be guided walks & coach tours and of course the now famous pop concert & fireworks night on the last night of the festival, which this year will feature Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue tribute acts. 

Telephone 01584 872150