A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Octagon Theatre

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

24-27 September 2020

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Octagon Theatre
Image courtesy of the Guildford Shakespeare Company.
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Before the Octagon Theatre Bolton reopens to welcome visitors, the theatre continues to reach its audiences digitally. This autumn the Octagon Theatre will broadcast a brand new live-streamed production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Co-produced with the award-winning Guildford Shakespeare Company and directed by Octagon Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham, this ‘made for online’ version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will reach eager audiences via Zoom for four nights this September. A hilarious online adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies.

While we wait for the theatres to reopen and for performances to resume – bring the live theatre experience into your living room. Originally performed in the open-air by the Guildford Shakespeare Company in 2017, the production has been specially adapted and directed for an online audience.

The Shakespearean comedy follows four young lovers as they find themselves lost in a mystical wood. With feisty fairies, mischievous sprites and a gang of highly-strung amateur actors, this classic light-hearted tale boasts some of Shakespeare’s most popular characters; Bottom the weaver, who finds himself transformed into a donkey, and Puck, the crafty little sprite whose love potions cause all manner of mayhem.

Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham said, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be fantastic fun and a great opportunity for audiences of all ages to engage with live theatre safely, until we can meet together in person. I look forward to sharing more details of our new productions which will take place in the theatre itself soon.”

Where to go near A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Octagon Theatre

Blackburn
Hotel
Northcote Hotel

Northcote’s luxury hotel perfectly matches its Michelin-star restaurant, nestled in the Ribble Valley hills on the edge of the Forest of Bowland.

Medlock Square
Manchester
Event venue
Medlock Square

Medlock Square is a new £300m entertainment complex betwixt the Etihad Stadium and Co-op Live, with Zadie’s, Little Beast, a hotel, market hall and more.

Zadie's
Manchester
Restaurant
Zadie’s

Italo-Japanese plates and razzle-dazzle glamour at Medlock Square. Featuring live acts, a space-age bar and a bird’s-eye view onto the Manchester City pitch.

Grafton Arms
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Grafton Arms

Grafton Arms has undergone an impressive revamp. The Eagle Inn team have turned this traditional pub into a standout live venue and drinking destination.

Proloco
Manchester
Restaurant
Proloco

Honest Crust’s Richard Carver and Rainy Heart’s Dan Hope join forces at Proloco, a music-led Ancoats restaurant serving 18-inch pizzas and seasonal plates.

City Centre
Restaurant
GiGi Gusto Griglia

GiGi is a lavish Italian restaurant just off Deansgate, with 1950s décor and a menu that sticks to the classics.

Blackburn
Restaurant
Northcote

Northcote’s Michelin-starred restaurant is the jewel in the crown of the Ribble Valley. We get a first look at the new autumnal menu.

Cumbria
Restaurant
Pentonbridge Inn

Pentonbridge Inn is a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in north Cumbria. Eight courses of bunkum-free fine dining from head chef Chris Archer.

Manchester
Restaurant
Dahlia Stereo

Dahlia Stereo is a Latin American-inspired open-fire kitchen and bar off the Northern Quarter’s Stevenson Square, with a pitch perfect soundsystem.

Balance Taproom
Manchester
Restaurant
Balance Taproom

Manchester has a glut of taprooms, and Balance Brewing’s is far and away the best. Drinks, decor, service – all a cut above.

Richard Hards ‘Strangeways’
Manchester
Gallery
Moon Grove

A Georgian front room in Rusholme houses Moon Grove, an independent gallery with an unusually ambitious international programme.

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