Much Ado About Nothing with an Elvis impersonator, shoulder pads, police, big hair, lots of laughs, some banging 80s tracks and an adventure playground? It must mean that Oxford’s Creation Theatre Company is back, with their new outdoor summer show. Book here
‘We want to make extraordinary things happen through Creation and Much Ado absolutely fits the bill’
Set in the South Oxford Adventure Playground off Abingdon Road, the production comes complete with its own bar, and plenty of room for picnics so that you can settle in and enjoy the fun.
And with new CEO Helen Eastman at the helm, the theatre supremo and champion of immersive children’s theatre has hit the ground running with this new production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing which is showing throughout July and August.
“much ado is about seizing the moment and living your life to the full, with loads of scope for fun”
And she can’t wait. Directed by Helen Tennison and co-produced by OVO, Creation’s Much Ado is set in the 1980s, in a time of outrageous fashion, yuppie optimism and underlying political instability.
Helen Eastman says: “Its a really simple story about a man and a women who fall completely in love with each other but pretend not to, and we all know how that feels. There is a lot of denial, even though you can see Beatrix and Benedict are mad about each other, which leaves lots of room for hijinks.
“We want to make extraordinary things happen through Creation and Much Ado absolutely fits the bill”
“So this is really about love and joy, and while there is a real emotional urgency about this production, it’s also about seizing the moment and living your life to the full, which leaves us loads of scope for fun,” she says.
The South Oxford Adventure Playground is just off the Abingdon Road, turning down into Whitehouse Road at the Tap Social’s White House, so eat at the pub or bring a picnic, rug, chairs, pre-order your drinks and enjoy a brilliant night out.
‘we hope ‘Much Ado’ brings people back together and leaves the audience feeling uplifted’
“Everyone needs a big injection of joy and we hope Much Ado brings people back together and leaves the audience feeling uplifted. We see this as an amazing opportunity to gather people together,” Helen adds.
Nervous then about her first production with Creation? “We want to make extraordinary things happen through Creation and Much Ado absolutely fits the bill,” Helen, who was a student at Oxford’s Corpus Christi, says.
“It just feels really exciting because there is so much good will surrounding Creation, and with our own rep company to cast, we have the most incredible team of actors to bring our stories to life.”
And with that Helen is back to rehearsals to make sure Much Ado fits the bill, ready to welcome us all very soon to South Oxford.
Creation and OVO’s co-production Much Ado at South Oxford Adventure Playground runs from July 12- August 19 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Age recommendation 7+. Book here
Creation and OVO’s co-production Much Ado About Nothing will also be performing at the Roman Theatre Festival 2023, in St Albans from 5 – 8 July Book here
