A Midsummer Night's Dream Returns From Stellar Sydney Run

New Zealand’s favourite theatre, Pop-up Globe, today announces the return of its biggest blockbuster ever for its first winter season.

The smash-hit multi-award-winning A Midsummer Night’s Dream is back by popular demand for just 11 performances from 19 July -- fresh from winning a slew of theatre awards in Sydney.

It will undoubtedly be a fan favourite again as the 2019 Winter Festival of six plays gets under way on 8 July. The “next level” festival includes a brand new full-scale production of the hilarious comedy Twelfth Night, the play that kicked off the phenomenon that is Pop-up Globe in Season 1; as well as the hit summer shows Measure for Measure and the tragedy Hamlet, both opening on 9 August.

In another first for the theatre, Pop-up Globe has teamed up with The Stage Company to commission and co-produce The Children’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, bringing the magic of Shakespeare to life for young people in a one-hour-long family-fun production that will play daily during the July school holidays.

And finally, the Pop-up Globe Youth Theatre Company, made up of young people aged 15-24, present their debut production, the pop-comedy The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, under the direction of Rita Stone.

Tickets to all plays are on sale now | www.popupglobe.co.nz

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring te reo speaking fairies, created much debate in New Zealand before departing for Sydney where it ran for 16 weeks, adored by packed houses who laughed, cried, stamped their feet and cheered this very Kiwi theatrical spectacular. It made a clean sweep of the BroadwayWorld Sydney Theatre Awards this year including best play, best director, best costume design and best choreography.

“We can’t wait to welcome this show back to its hometown for a very limited season starting in July,” says award-winning director and Pop-up Globe founder Miles Gregory.

And with all Pop-up Globe plays, there’s always a twist. Fans who loved Twelfth Night in 2016 will fall in love with it all over again, with the new additions including dancing sailors, identical twins, love-sick chemists, shipwrecks and swordfights. This all-new, all-singing, all-dancing production takes the energy of Jean Paul Gaultier and mixes it with a love-sick dose of pure madness to transform Shakespeare’s hilarious comedy into a wild romp that will have you dancing in the aisles and singing all the way home.

The last time Pop-up Globe staged Twelfth Night, over 30,000 people packed the Pop-up Globe in a twice-extended, sell-out run that was the talk of the city. This new production gives Shakespeare’s finest play a wild makeover, courtesy of Pop-up Globe’s creative team led by Dr Gregory, including extraordinary and eclectic designs by Bob Capocci and a new score by NZ music legend Paul McLaney.

Having entertained over 600,000 people in three years, Pop-up Globe today announces that it will be open for business in Auckland this winter for the very first time, with a new festival of performance through July and August. Pop-up Globe is proud to be an event partner of Elemental AKL, Auckland’s newest winter festival.

Previously limited to the summer months due to its open-sky construction based on Shakespeare’s seventeenth century design, a spectacular new roof will transform New Zealand’s most popular new theatre into an all-weather venue.

This will ensure fans can enjoy more of Shakespeare’s masterworks for more of the year. The theatre’s now better than ever, with improved acoustics, new lavish boxes surrounding the stage, and a spectacular winter roof over the yard of the theatre, making it an all-weather venue.

Pop-up Globe's new seasonal roof, which was commissioned by Pop-up Globe from specialist Whangarei-based firm Fabric Structures Ltd, is a specially designed canvas structure that is lavishly decorated with a hand-painted sky-design incorporating New Zealand birds flying to the heavens. It will provide shelter from the elements to the yard area of the theatre, allowing the theatre to be used year-round.

Tickets to the Winter Festival are on sale now. More details at popupglobe.co.nz.

Artistic director and Pop-up Globe founder, Miles Gregory, says he’s thrilled to be able to give fans more of what they’ve asked for.

“We’re constantly asked by fans why they have to wait six months for their next dose of Shakespeare, Pop-up Globe-style, and we know that the second Globe was used in both summer and winter in Shakespeare’s day", says Dr Gregory.

“Through careful engineering, we will be able to transform Pop-up Globe into a beautiful covered and hopefully warm theatre without diluting the experience that Shakespeare created 400 or so years ago.”

6 extraordinary plays | Tickets on sale NOW
popupglobe.co.nz

A Midsummer Night's Dream | Twelfth Night | Hamlet
Measure for Measure | The Children’s Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Two Gentlemen of Verona

STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON

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