One of the biggest open air theatre festivals in the UK is to take place in Sophia Gardens for the first time since the pandemic began. The six-week Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival, organised by Everyman Theatre, is to take place between June 23 and July 30 this year at the Cardiff venue.
It will showcase a range of theatre productions and comedies including Blackadder Goes Forth, Little Shop of Horrors, Twelfth Night and High School Musical. These shows will be performed by voluntary actors who have been partnered with a professional theatre team.
Cressida Ford, a trustee of Everyman Theatre, is starring as Feste in Twelfth Night. She was cast around two years ago for the 2020 production which never went ahead. Cressida said: “The cancellation from Covid was a kick in the teeth. Our main bit of income is from ticket sales and for the professional partners we work with this was especially hard. It was very close to disaster for everyone involved.
“For those of us whose livelihoods don’t depend on the theatre, we were lucky to have another income stream. But even from a hobby point of view it was hard.”
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Although a version of the festival did take place at different venues last year, Cressida stressed that it was challenging to navigate with social distancing rules. She added: “I was involved in the performance last year, but we’re much freer this year. It was complicated, we had to allow only certain actors to get near each other on stage. This year we will still have to take care and make allowances for people who are ill or might not be able to come to rehearsals, but we’re really looking forward to it.”
The festival itself is in its 39th year of running. It began with a Shakespeare production of The Winter’s Tale in 1983 then developed a more diverse production as the years went on. Cressida loves Shakespeare and is excited to start rehearsing for Twelfth Night in May.
“This is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I did a puppet show of it when I was nine and I made my family do all the voices as I moved the puppets around. It’s exciting too because it’s traditionally a male role,” she said. Tickets are available for the whole family at various prices, more information can be found here. To keep up to date with the latest what's on news from across Wales subscribe to our newsletter here.
