Monday 11th June 2012 by Will Langdale
A quick pick of what’s hot in the TicketTree.com office
 |
| The Regent's Park Open Air Theatre before their revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods in 2010 by aesop on flickr |
Theatre in the Park
A little more literal an interpretation of “what’s hot” this week as the UK gets a liberal dose of blue skies and warm, warm weather – a sentence that will in no way look stupid when the inevitable thunder storms hit in about five days’ time.
But for now, ah, how does the saying go? Make lemonade while the sun shines? If life gives you hay make lemons? As much as modern theatre owes to air conditioning and radiators sometimes it’s nice to go Greek and feel the wind whistle down your proscenium while you’re at a show. And luckily, you can!
The Regents Park Open Air Theatre has just begun this summer’s performances with Ragtime, and if the last few years’ shows are anything to go by it should be an absolute corker. Last year’s revival of Crazy For You went down a storm, and even transferred into the West End once it had had enough of an al fresco run. As The Guardian’s Maddy Costa said in her recent article, the critical successes of the past few years owe a lot to the Open Air’s artistic director, Timothy Sheader, who changed it from a venue that largely ran Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream year after year. They’re running it this year alongside the edgier Ragtime, so perhaps a safe bet’s in order as counterpoint to a bit of a risk!
Another outdoor experience well worth a look is the threesixty Theatre, currently erected in Kensington Gardens. The company’s only a few years old, producing Peter Pan back in 2009, which has since been seen in various forms all over the world. The outdoor but weatherproof tent gives a unique indoors-outdoors feel – the weather sometimes being a problem at the Regent’s Park Open Air! With the 1200 seats placed in a giant circle around the stage, you’re never more than a few rows from the stage at the threesixty, and the productions are all designed in the round. This year’s production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe looks absolutely stunning and has some wonderful reviews to boot!
Deal of the week
To link in to the summer vibe of this week’s blog, we’re giving 5% off all the outdoor productions mentioned above – just enter OUTSIDEBLOG in the voucher field to claim the money off of Ragtime, A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe on all bookings made in the next week!