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SPECTACULAR THEATRE PRODUCTION SET TO BE A DREAM COME TRUE

Adaptation of Midsummer Night's Dream  

SPECTACULAR THEATRE PRODUCTION SET TO BE A DREAM COME TRUE

Terra Nova Productions, Northern Ireland’s only professional intercultural theatre company, has announced that it will be partnering with Ards and North Down Borough Council to stage a never-before-seen production of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ in May 2019.

The ambitious production, a project supported by the European Union’s PEACE Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, will feature 500 opportunities for local people to join professional artists, from across the globe, to produce and perform in a secret location in Ards.

Starting in April 2018 and spanning 17 months, the project will offer free taster sessions and workshops in multiple locations to many communities; will provide indigenous and new Northern Ireland citizens with an opportunity to share and showcase their cultural traditions; and will develop community teams of singers, dancers, costume-makers, set-builders and actors from across the borough. There will be free weekend masterclasses for people to learn new skills as well as opportunities to join the volunteer team from March 2019.

The community engagement programmes and tasters sessions will culminate in 10 weeks of rehearsal in Spring 2019.  Anyone with an interest in song, dance, acting, set, lighting or costume, should watch out for auditions in December 2018.

The production will coincide with the celebration of Shakespeare’s 455th birthday and will feature a secret location transformed into an intercultural reinterpretation of ‘Shakespeare’s Globe,’ complete with standing room for groundlings, seats for aristocrats, food, drink and multiple showings of an innovative version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ including an estimated 150 Ards and North Down citizens supported by a high-powered international team of 30 professionals.

Speaking at the launch, Chair of the Ards and North Down Borough Council PEACE IV Partnership, Alderman Angus Carson welcomed the commencement of the project and said;

“We are delighted that Terra Nova are going to be delivering a Cross Community Intercultural Theatre project in 8 areas where the visible manifestations of the conflict are most pronounced enabling different cultures and classes to interact through the mediums of music, dance and theatre.  The programme is aimed at building a greater awareness of cultural diversity, understanding and cohesion between communities.”

Terra Nova Productions, Artistic Director, Andrea Montgomery, said;

 “Terra Nova Productions are delighted to partner with Ards and North Down Borough Council PEACE IV partnership for this spectacular project, which we hope will bring a life-changing intercultural arts experience to the borough. This production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ builds on 10 years of Terra Nova’s intercultural experience. We have worked across the globe in locations from Greenland to Macau. We have also demonstrated a strong commitment to staging exciting intercultural work in Northern Ireland, such as the Belfast Tempest which we created in 2016 for the Shakespeare 400th Anniversary.  We would encourage everyone from across the borough to get involved and help us to make this a dream come true production for everyone.”

Follow the project on social media #ANDdream, twitter @TerraNovaDrama, facebook www.facebook.com/terranovaproductions, Instagram @TerraNovaDrama and for details of how to get involved in the project visit www.terranovaproductions.net/dream