Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn wins £15,000 grant Lottery award
Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn has been allocated a £15,000 grant ahead of their first ever in-house production, after winning an award from Arts Council England Lottery Funding.
The production of Williams Shakespeare’s Macbeth opens on Tuesday for an eight-performance run.
Alongside the production, the venue has offered an education programme to local schools and also held open auditions in February, at which a number of local performers were added to the professional cast.
Bosses at Theatre Severn submitted their funding application earlier this year, and creating a production that offered engagement with the local community was key to the success in receiving the Arts Council award.
Craig Reeves, spokesman for the theatre, said that the award was a coup for the theatre and added: “We are quite new to the process of creating our own in-house production and we are enjoying the experience. It is definitely broadening our horizons.”
Macbeth is directed by Loveday Ingram, who recently earned rave reviews for her production of Aphra Behn’s The Rover for The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
She said this project at Theatre Severn is one that will help engage local audiences in a new way. She added: ‘We always knew that we wanted Macbeth to be supported by education workshops as engaging young audiences with Shakespeare is something I am passionate about. It’s part of the reason that I wanted to work alongside a community cast.
“Other venues run similar projects but this would be the first of its kind for Shropshire. What an amazing opportunity to offer aspiring performers.’
The cast of Macbeth features Patrick Robinson in the title role, familiar to audiences for his role as ‘Ash’ in Casualty and Holby City. A limited number of tickets are available at the Theatre Severn Box Office on 01743 281281 and online at theatresevern.co.uk
