Brownsea Open Air Theatre

Coordinates: 50°44′24″N 1°54′50″W / 50.740°N 1.914°W / 50.740; -1.914

The Merchant of Venice, 2008

Brownsea Open Air Theatre (commonly abbreviated B.O.A.T) is an open-air Shakespearian theatre company based in Poole, Dorset that have performed large theatrical productions since 1964. Annually performing a play from the extensive works of William Shakespeare for three weeks in July and August, the production is set on the National Trust's Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour with boats transporting patrons to the island from Poole Quay.

Patrons leave for the island from the Orange hut on Poole Quay.

Recent productions include The Merchant of Venice, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, The Taming Of The Shrew and Julius Caesar. The 49th season in 2012 was Love's Labour's Lost, and in 2013 their 50th Season was celebrated with A Midsummer Night's Dream and Pericles For a single season B.O.A.T Ashore was established in 2006 when the company's committee agreed that a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (in Shakespeare's original words) could be produced under the B.O.A.T banner on the mainland, as B.O.A.T Ashore. The production ran in early 2007 throughout Dorset.

B.O.A.T. were part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Open Stages project in 2012, participating in workshops and performing an excerpt from their 2011 production of Julius Caesar . They took part in Open Stages 2014 with a combined version of Henry IV, part 1 and Henry IV, part 2, one scene of which they performed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon

Critical acclaim

B.O.A.T receive excellent national and regional coverage, and have been featured in The Guardian as one of the UK's Top 10 Open Air Theatre Venues, listed second to the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall.[1]

In 2009 B.O.A.T was included in Debrett's list of the top five things to do in England[2]

Productions

Measure for Measure, 2005
All's Well that Ends Well, 2007

In 2017 BOAT will be performing As You Like It for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Former B.O.A.T members

Former members of Brownsea Open Air Theatre who went on to appear in film, stage and/or television include the following:

References

  1. "Top-10 Open Air Venues.". The Guardian. July 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  2. "Debrett's - The Social Season.". Debrett's. 2009.

External links

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