Ripon is gearing up for its first Ripon Theatre Festival – four days of events and activities to brighten the city from Thursday 23 – Sunday 26 June. With over 40 events from more than 20 professional acts supported by community performers, it is a packed programme and a logistical challenge.
Around 30 volunteers will support the acts on the move around the Festival Zones on Festival Saturday – Market Place, Canal Basin and Ripon Spa Gardens.
The running orders for each zone are now published and feature The Comedy Waiters, The Green Finger Folk, the Million Dollar Mermaids and The Flying Wheelnuts (images attached) amongst many others. Saturday also sees four family theatre performances, each lasting 20 -55 minutes in various locations: children of all ages will enjoy Winnie and Warwick’s Magical Menagerie (Strange Twig Theatre), Tales from the Great Wood (Badapple Theatre), Flotsam and Jetsam and The Fisher and his Wife (both Lempen Puppet Theatre). Plus there’s pop-up events in The Little Ripon Bookshop, at the Library and at the Curzon cinema – storytelling, puppetry, drama and hands-on activities.
The Festival kicks off on Thursday, with morning, afternoon and evening shows. Opening night sees Fell-Foss Theatre Company’s Crusoe’s Island – one man’s story of shipwreck, solitude and salvation. Other festival highlights include Red Ladder Theatre Company with their acclaimed production of The Damned United, the comic Holmes and Watson – The Farewell Tour and Illyria Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Nights Dream at Fountains Abbey.
Ripon Theatre Festival is organised by a team of volunteers from the Ripon City Festival Trust, driven by the aim of brightening Ripon with professional and community performances and celebrating the unique city with four days of fun.
