Shakespeare at Stamford’s Tolethorpe Hall
Tolethorpe Hall – home to the Stamford Shakespeare Company – returns for a new season of quality theatre in the fresh air, a unique experience that has seen over a million and a half enjoy their productions in a unique setting surrounding a 19th century country house
The stage is set for a summer of tragedy and comedy… but enough about politics. It’s also time for Tolethorpe Hall to serve as a memorable backdrop for a live theatre experience that over 30,000 people each year enjoy courtesy of Tolethorpe’s Stamford Shakespeare Company.
It’s impossible to overstate how well-respected the company is, and over its 57 years around one and a half million people have enjoyed a picnic in the grounds of the Grade II* listed 19th century stately home followed by in-house productions not only of Shakespeare’s most enduring plays, but theatre from other playwrights too.
Published 400 years ago, Shakespeare’s First Folio comprised 36 comedies, histories and tragedies. Its initial print run was just 750 copies, but from his active years between 1585 and 1613, to the present day, his influence has grown to secure his reputation as the world’s most revered playwright, with many of the idioms we use today from his original text finding their way into common vernacular.
As for the history of Tolethorpe, it was founded in 1968 by RADA graduate Jean Harley, whose initial goal was to host a series of performances in the grounds of the Monastery Gardens at The George of Stamford in order to fund the creation of Stamford Arts Centre (an ambition which eventually came to fruition in 1978).
Jean’s directorial tenacity ensured her early productions were a success, but when The George could no longer accommodate the productions due to building work, Stamford Shakespeare Company was all dressed up with nowhere to show. Happily, and in the spirit of theatre, there was a dramatic plot development.
One of the members of the group discovered that Tolethorpe Hall had recently come on to the market, and despite having just £78 in the bank, the group made an offer of £26,000 for the property… not a bad price given its likely value today.
However, the hall had been unoccupied for years, the west wing of the property had no roof and the grounds were to landscaping what Falstaff was to bodybuilding.
With businessman Tim Clancy providing the funds for the property’s purchase (the loan was repaid four years later), the first season at Tolethorpe opened on 6th June 1977.
Refitted with its present 600-seater outdoor auditorium in 1993, and with Jean at the helm for 41 years until 2008, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018 by which time over a million visitors to Tolethorpe had enjoyed a visit, enjoying one of three Shakespeare productions each year, plus a ‘wildcard’ non-Shakespeare production, and a play by the company’s TYD (Tolethorpe Youth Drama), established in September 2001 to provide real-world experience for budding actors and theatre technicians aged between eight and 18.
Today each production tends to have between 20 and 50 people both on stage and behind the scenes, working hard to ensure the most professional theatre experience for audiences.
Each play has its own director who pitches their proposed production a year in advance. From getting the green light, sets are produced by the group’s carpenters, costumes are made in house and even fight coordinators are enlisted when a production calls for a bit of thrusting and parrying.
Lighting and sound technicians and front of house staff all work hard to ensure a professional theatre experience which belies the fact that cast and crew are all volunteers.
Interest is maintained too not just by strong production values, but by the unique creative approach each director brings to their production. For example, the 2025 production of Macbeth will see the drama unfold not in 11th century Scotland but in a post-apocalyptic future. Taming of the Shrew has a post-punk aesthetic and is set around 1981, whilst this year’s two non-Shakespeare plays, Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d and TYD’s Wuthering Heights are shown in an original 1960s setting, and against a pared-back expressionist style respectively.
Around 500 hours are invested in rehearsals, performances and production for each play, and it shows in the quality of the storytelling that remains at the heart and in the soul of the Tolethorpe experience.
Take along a picnic or purchase one from the theatre’s on-site restaurant (The Fig Tree) or dine before you watch a play… but however you enjoy Tolethorpe, make sure you do. This is a group that really goes above and beyond to give audiences a truly wonderful experience, from prologue to postscript.
The Mirror Crack’d 14th June to 16th Aug.
Taming of the Shrew, 17th June to 26th July.
Macbeth, from 1st July-23rd August.
TYD’s Wuthering Heights, 7th-9th July.
Each of the company’s plays are staged concurrently on selected dates/times. Tickets £22/Mon-Fri, £24/matinée and Saturday evenings. Call 01780 917240 or see www.tolethorpe.co.uk.
See our full feature in the July edition of Stamford Pride at https://issuu.com/pridemagazines/docs/stamford_pride_july_2025