Fantastic open air theatre returns to The Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park with three classic plays for August 2011

4th July 2011

The ever popular Chapterhouse Theatre Company will be returning to The Savill Garden from 18-20 August to perform three classic plays. Actor Laura McKellar (29), originally from Windsor, will be performing in two of the productions.

On Thursday 18 August, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream will come to life as flitting fairies, forest bound lovers and raucous tradesmen all join to create the perfect summer evening. Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility comes to The Savill Garden on Friday 19 August for an evening of Regency wonderment as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood make their first foray into the excitingly decadent world of eighteenth century high society. There is a return to Shakespeare on Saturday 20 August with The Taming of the Shrew when a battle of the sexes is in full swing in one of Shakespeare’s most fabulous comedies.

Originally from Windsor, actor Laura McKellar plays Mrs Dashwood and Mrs Jennings in Sense and Sensibility and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Laura is delighted to be coming back to the area to perform with the Chapterhouse Theatre Company. Laura went to St Edward’s Catholic First School, St Edward’s Royal Free Middle School and also the Princess Margaret Free School.

Laura comments:

“Windsor holds a lot of fond memories for me and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the area to perform in the beautiful Savill Garden.”

Tickets for the Chapterhouse Theatre Company performances are £14 per adult, students/children (under 16) £8, and a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) £35. There is a 10% discount for group bookings of 10 or more people. To book tickets either visit The Savill Garden or call 01784 435544. There will also be a rare opportunity to picnic in The Savill Garden, for those attending the theatre performances. The Savill Garden will be open from 6pm. Guests will then be invited to take their places on The Lawns from 7pm and are welcome to bring their own chairs or rugs, although there will be some seating available.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

1.  For more information about the outdoor performances call 01784 435544 or visit www.theroyallandscape.co.uk

2  The Savill Garden is part of The Royal Landscape, which also includes the Valley Gardens and Virginia Water. It is one of England’s finest woodland and ornamental gardens with 35 acres of trees, shrubbery, ponds and streams, lawns, meadows and formal beds which are home to some of the world’s most decorative plants.

3  The Savill Garden is open all year (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Admission prices to The Savill Garden Summer 2011 (March-October): Adults £8.50; Seniors £7.95; Groups (10+) £6.95; Children (6-16) £3.75; Coach Driver Free; Carers Free; Blue Badge Guides Free; Group organiser/leader Free (1 per group and Garden admission only).

4.  The Crown Estate is valued at £6.6 billion, including over 400 commercial properties in London and elsewhere, almost 146,000 hectares of agricultural land, forests, residential and commercial property in England, Scotland and Wales, over half of the UK’s foreshore, together with the seabed out to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit. All of The Crown Estate’s revenue surplus is paid directly to the Exchequer for the benefit of all UK taxpayers, and in 2009/10 this amounted to £210.7 million.

5.  Laura McKellar graduated from the two-year acting course at The Poor School in 2009. Her theatre credits include: Portia in ‘The Merchant of Venice’, Olga in ‘Three Sisters’, Polly in ‘Under Milk Wood’ (Workhouse Theatre); Scarlet Sundaes in ‘Recipe for a Perfect Wife’ (Kings Head Theatre); Titania in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Musical’, Olivia in ‘Twelfth Night’ (EAS productions, Edinburgh Fringe); Ensemble in ‘Pericles’ (The Grand Union).

6.  Laura is also a singer in both musical theatre and as part of the band The Scarlet Sundaes, where she has performed at venues such as Madame JoJo’s and Battersea Barge.

For more press information call Sarah Halstead, Marketing Dept, The Crown Estate, on 07918 121905 or email Sarah.Halstead@thecrownestate.co.uk