The works of England’s most famous playwright are to be brought to the Museum in the Park, as the inaugural Stroud Shakespeare Festival gets underway.

The three-day festival, which begins on the last day of May, will see the Stroud museum transformed into a William Shakespeare themed setting, with the aim of bringing his works to life for a new audience of literature lovers. “Within the museum itself there are going to be four dedicated spaces, presenting a diverse and vibrant programme with lots of different types of theatrical experiences designed to suit people of all ages,” said Festival Director Alan Butler.

Most of the festival is free of charge, with just a handful of performances requiring payment. Two of Shakespeare’s most famous plays – Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night – will be performed at the museum by Five Valleys Productions, an arts school based at the South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. Continued Alan: “We’re enormously excited to be contributing to south Gloucestershire’s impressive arts scene. There’s been a lot of planning going on, with so many great volunteers lending their time. Stroud is home to so many wonderful arts festivals, it would be wonderful to think our festival could be as popular as some of the more established ones. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved already, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed now that the three days are busy and we can showcase Shakespeare off to a new audience.

“We’ve organised specific workshops for young people, including a treasure hunt around the museum where children can get their hands on a gift if they solve all the Shakespeare inspired clues.

“There’s going to be improvised plays of Shakespeare’s works, provided by a company that literally creates a play on the spot, it’s improvised art at its best. When we came up with the idea of launching a Shakespeare Festival our number one aim was to engage new audiences. We’ll be expecting to see many enthusiastic Shakespeare fans but we’re also hoping to showcase his work to people who might not be all too familiar with his works.”

Alan says part of the problem when it comes to learning Shakespeare is the way his work is often taught in schools. “A lot of people who I speak to have bad memories of reading Shakespeare’s work at school. His works were designed to be spoken and performed. There’s a good reason why he’s still so popular 400 years after his death. A lot of his work can be very drab if it isn’t taught well, which is why we want to bring his plays to life, to inject some passion and excitement into it.”