‘’All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’’
The forest is calling! This summer, a new company of players, The Midsummer Botanicals, invite audiences to step beneath the trees and into the wild, wondrous world of As You Like It - a sun-soaked celebration of laughter and community blooming in one of Wellington’s gorgeous parks for the first week of the Wellington Fringe Festival.
In 1983, A Midsummer Night’s Dream lit up the Victoria University Quad and sparked a beloved tradition of outdoor Shakespeare in Wellington - a festival of artistry, friendship, and open-air delight that ran for over forty years. After its sudden end in 2023, a vital chapter of our city’s cultural story seemed to close. But this February, the Botanicals are bringing it gloriously back to life.
Set in a vibrant reimagining of Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden, this production draws on courtyard and marketplace traditions of performance, transforming Wellington’s Aro Valley gem into a living, breathing garden of music, colour, and character. Audiences are invited to arrive early, explore the space, and meet the motley cast of lovers and fools before the story even begins. Expect song, sun, silliness, and the scent of summer roses.
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