Beauty and the Beast comes to Alnwick Castle

Jul 22 2010 by David Whetstone, The Journal

YOU have to take your hat off to our outdoor theatre companies, annually braving the elements and all the other potential impediments to a smooth evening’s entertainment.

But they must enjoy it as much as those who turn up to watch because they keep on going – and Chapterhouse Theatre Company, in particular, seems to be everywhere at once.

The company was founded by Richard Main, who hails from South Shields. He’s a Newcastle United nut and also likes a bit of Shakespeare.

I once put it to him that Chapterhouse, which is based in Lincoln, must be one of the hardest- working theatre companies in Britain.

“One of the maddest,” he countered swiftly.

They do, however, perform in lots of lovely locations and you can find them tomorrow evening at Alnwick Castle with their production of Beauty and the Beast.

Laura Turner’s telling of the tale is aimed at a family audience, beginning when a girl called Louisa and her friends transform their 1940s garden into a setting for the fairytale.

Tickets from Alnwick Castle on 01665 510777 or the tourist information centres in Alnwick and Morpeth. The show starts at 6.30pm but gates open at 6pm when the tea room will be open. Best take a rug or low-backed seating.

Chapterhouse are back here on September 5 with Pride and Prejudice which you can also see at the Gala Theatre, Durham, on August 11. The company will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Warkworth Castle on August 6 and the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, on August 12