The British Shakespeare Company are proud to announce they will be performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Markeaton Park, Derby on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th June 2006.

Derby’s best-loved park, Markeaton Park is a one of the city’s most exciting and popular venues. Although Markeaton House (owned by the Mundy family since 1516) was demolished in 1964 and replaced by a landscaped terrace, the grounds on which it stood are now enlivened by a play centre, a Grade II-listed Orangery, and even a miniature steam train which tours the park. The park has been the site for many successful productions by the amateur Derby Shakespeare Company, and we are happy to help sustain the city’s enviable commitment to the Bard. Tickets will go on sale shortly.

Nina Anwar has joined the British Shakespeare Company to play Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Nurse in Romeo & Juliet. Nina starred with Rowan Atkinson in Ben Elton’s The Thin Blue Line. The complete cast has been announced this morning ( LINK ).

The press in Norway have announced the shows in Norway. Robert J Williamson and Natasha Kemball met Petter Olsen (left) at the weekend to discuss final details. Those of you that can read Norwegian might like to read the online article in Aftenposten, the national newspaper.

The British Shakespeare Company are proud to announce the role of Romeo will be played by Sean Brendan Brosnan. The complete cast will be unveiled this week.

The festival will now open at Rochester Castle in Kent on the 9th & 10th June. We are going to perform at Nottingham Playhouse this year 13th to 16th July. Hopefully we will be able to return to the castle some time in coming years.

Things are really hotting up now - rehearsals start this week in London. Tickets for all venues will also be on sale in the next few days. Please keep visiting the site - information will be added daily.

The Shakespeare Festival is a fabulous summer event. We know many of you come back year after year. Please tell your friends or better still come with a group of friends or work colleagues or clients and have a really special night out. There are group discounts available.

 This is not really new news but may be of interest to someone. Uranus has 27 known moons at first all the moons were named after Shakespeare’s fairies with TITANIA (pictured) and OBERON both dicovered in 1787 being the largest. As they discovered more they have named them after other Shakespearian characters and they are discovering more every day. This means that most of the most plantetiods in our Solar system are named after Shakespearian characters. A full list is Cordelia - 1986, Ophelia - 1986, Bianca - 1986, Cressida - 1986, Desdemona - 1986, Juliet - 1986, Portia - 1986, Rosalind - 1986, Belinda - 1986, Puck - 1986, Titania - 1787, Oberon - 1787, Ariel - 1851, Miranda - 1948, Umbriel - ?
New Moons - Moons that have only been discovered recently. Dates are not known. Caliban, Sycorax, Prospero, Setebos, Stephano.