Four different Shakespeare roles over nine days!

Rainbow Shakespeare in Highdown Gardens is usually one of the great summer highlights in Worthing.

And the company will be keeping up their tradition – in very altered times.

Instead of being staged, the plays will be read on Zoom, and Shakespeare fans are invited to join the professionals in the reading: first-come-first-served, no application fee, no audition, no rehearsal, although they will be coached over the phone, ahead of the day, by Rainbow artistic director Nick Young. Rather than two plays over two weeks, the company will offer four plays – two comedies, two tragedies – over four nights, each at 7.30pm – with the audience watching the presentations live streamed on Rainbow’s new YouTube channel.

Coming up are Romeo & Juliet (Friday, July 17), Much Ado About Nothing (Saturday, July 18), Macbeth (July 24) and As You Like It (July 25) – all in celebration of the 21st anniversary of Rainbow’s Highdown residency.

Ross will play Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet, Benedict in Much Ado, the title role in Macbeth and Jaques in As You Like It: “I am very excited by it. I was so disappointed that we were

cancelling for this summer, which obviously we had to do. This is a great idea for us to keep our presence out there and also to try to raise some funds for next year. And the exciting thing is that it is going to be open for anybody to join in, to bid for a role alongside the professional actors. It could be quite spectacular. The relationship you build up in a rehearsal room means that you start to be able to read each other and to get to know each other’s rhythms, but with this, with members of the public joining us, it could be very exhilarating!”

Ross is already pondering just what he might pick up from his desk when it comes to Macbeth’s dagger speech…

“I think Nick might want to do a few small rehearsals with some of the main parts so that it hangs together, but other than that it will be just very much in the moment and go with the flow.The wonderful thing about reading Shakespeare is the dramatic poetry. It really does paint pictures which is why you don’t really need big complicated sets to do Shakespeare. I am really excited by the dramatic poetry and will really relish getting into it in some of the speeches. It will be a performance, but obviously without the live interaction you will get with actors on stage, looking at each other with a wry look or a twinkle or a sparkle. But I think it is really important to do something. If you do anything positive, I think it has a positive ripple effect. So many people were disappointed about not being able to go to Highdown, but this will give them something.

“And it will be great to see some of my acting friends. I live alone, and that has been quite tough at times, though I imagine it has been tough in other ways for families all living together. But I have missed seeing my friends.

“It has been frustrating. But I am ever hopeful for the future, ever hoping that our theatres might open again by the autumn.”

And with that in mind, Ross has secured himself a role in this year’s Worthing panto, Belle’s father in Beauty and The Beast: “The panto is such a big financial earner for so many regional theatres they will be desperate to be able to go ahead with it this year.”

To take part, email [email protected].

Why running is my lockdown release

Chichester Singers combine musically in isolation for beautiful video

Lockdown Laughs 4 Parents switches online for comedy in your own home

Why walking is what we all need at the moment - especially in glorious Sussex

Shakespeare’s Globe makes productions available to watch for free during lockdown

How you can still enjoy Sussex delights... from the safety of your armchair

Up close but safe: enjoy collections online at Royal Pavilion & Museums in Brighton

Chichester orchestra records its own lockdown song

Coronavirus: top ten tips for boredom-busting during quarantine

Singer and pianist Joe Stilgoe live-streams daily message of hope during the coronavirus crisis

Music "more important than ever" in our time of crisis, urges West Sussex Music

Coronavirus: live streaming for Sunday morning services at Chichester Cathedral

Coronavirus: Festival of Chichester 2020 cancelled

*************

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.

Gary Shipton

Editorial Director