Entertainment

Terra Nova Productions stage Dream Project with Shakespeare in Ards

Actor Conor Cupples as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Actor Conor Cupples as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream Actor Conor Cupples as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream

AN INNOVATIVE and "game-changing" version of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' comes to Newtownards next week, bringing race and gender centre stage for 2019.

Terra Nova Productions has updated one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies for the 'Dream Project', supported by the European Union's PEACE Programme and celebrating the diverse range of culture, class and identity across the Ards and North Down Borough area.

Terra Nova artistic director Andrea Montgomery, said: "We are committed to making outstanding inter-cultural work in Northern Ireland and The Dream Project is a testament to this.

"The play uses the outrageous power of love to challenge all the old rules and that is very exciting. We have flipped the gender of various roles and reached out to friends and colleagues across the UK arts scene to cast outstanding black actors alongside exciting local talent."

Since April last year, the team has organised almost 100 workshops for local people who are at the heart of this new piece of "ambitious theatre" which features some south American salsa, improvised dance 'rumbles' and a segment from ladies from the local Women's Institute.

The play, staged at the Queen's Hall, Newtownards, runs from May 2-5 and is free to attend. For details, visit www.terranovaproductions.net/dream