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Palace to host bard play for first time
By Patrick Sawer, Evening Standard 19.07.07
Kensington Palace: will stage a version of A Midsummer's Night Dream
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A play is to be performed at Kensington Palace, the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales, for the first time.
The production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is the brainchild of Charlotte Windmill, artistic director of the Oxford Shakespeare Company, who has pioneered the use of historic locations for the playwright's work.
The company staged the 400th anniversary production of Macbeth in the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace last year.
This persuaded the Historic Royal Palaces to allow part of Kensington Palace gardens to be used as the setting for next month's production, complete with a giant climbing frame and acrobats dancing on silk ropes.
But Ms Windmill had to promise to cut a scene involving a fire-breathing fairy.
"I think they were worried about us burning down the palace," she said.
Ms Windmill is married to Andrew Lloyd Webber's son, Nick, a musician who has written the score and choral accompaniment for the production.
She said: "There's something very special about performing a play at one of Britain's historic palaces, particularly one as famous as Kensington Palace, which has this wonderful private garden.
"There's the stunning architecture of the Orangery on one side and the grandeur of the palace in the background."
She founded the OSC in 2000 in order to stage works not usually performed outdoors.
"So many things are special about open-air theatre. It's unpredictable and liberating," said Ms Windmill. "The audience is within touching distance of the actors who, when they aren't in a scene, often remain visible, contributing to the magical atmosphere."
A Midsummer Night's Dream runs at Kensington Palace from 4 to 17 August before transferring to Hampton Court Palace (to 26 August). See www.oxfordshakespearecompany.co.uk
