By Caroline Mutton

IN August, returning for the fifth year, is our popular fringe production Bard in the Yard.

This year you can look forward to half-hour adaptations of Richard III and The Tempest directed by Dick Hebbert and Andrew Leggott. About Richard III, Dick Hebbert writes: “Bard in the Yard 2024 for the first time brings you a history – and what a history it is. Richard III is perhaps the best known and bloodiest of Shakespeare’s historical plays, charting Richard Duke of Gloucester’s ruthless rise to the throne of England. But what goes up must come down and by the time Richard reaches his goal, the enemies he made getting there are queuing up to get their revenge.”

About The Tempest, Andrew Leggott writes: “Magician and deposed Duke, Prospero and his daughter Miranda are marooned on an island with its rightful owner, the vengeful Caliban, and the mischievous spirit, Ariel. Fate and conjuring shipwreck their enemies on the same shore, and in half an hour, Prospero is restored, Miranda is betrothed to a handsome Prince, Caliban regains his sovereignty, Ariel is freed to the winds, and a jester and a drunken butler get their comeuppance. Thought to be Shakespeare’s last solo play, The Tempest retains all his mastery, charm, humour and romance.”

Performances will take place at 7.30pm on Saturday, August 24, in the Wildman Studio and at 2pm in the Manor House Yard on Sunday, August 25 and Monday, August 26 (Bank Holiday). Please note that to book for the Manor House performances, visit admin@ilkleymanorhouse.org If the weather is inclement on the Sunday or Monday, we have the option of transferring back to Ilkley Playhouse which is less than five minutes’ walk away. Tickets are £8 and £5 for students. Each play lasts about 30 minutes.

Our first Wharfeside Theatre production of the Autumn/Winter season is Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, opening on September 12. When Dr Stockmann discovers the town’s famous spa waters are poisoned, she expects to be treated as a hero for averting an environmental catastrophe. Instead, she is accused by her brother – the town’s mayor – of threatening the town’s livelihood. Public and media opinion divides and the community splits into factions. Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s contemporary take on Henrik Ibsen’s powerful classic drama tackles fake news, whistle-blowers and the corruption of power – all issues that concern us today. The play runs until September 21.

This season’s poetry and literature course is a combined ten-week course starting on Thursday, September 5. The literature element of the course tackles the work of French novelist Marcel Proust and attempts to remove the intimidation factor that his writing can sometimes present. The course offers a friendly, supportive and encouraging environment in which to delve into his work. The poetry section of the course concerns ‘place’ – a subject that has long fascinated poets. Pastoral, landscape, cityscape, nature – a host of locations have inspired poets to contemplate the relationship between humans and the places we inhabit. The course features poetry from the Romantics to the 21st century, from Wordsworth to Armitage. The course tutor is Dr Robert Hemmings who has been teaching, researching and writing about literature and culture for more than 25 years. He is passionate about lifelong learning and is delighted to have this opportunity to read and discuss poetry and literature at Ilkley Playhouse.

The first of our two fringe productions of the Autumn/Winter season is Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons and will be performed in the Wildman Studio from September 26 to 28. The average person will speak 123,205,750 words in a lifetime. But what if there were a limit? This play imagines a world where we are forced to say less. The play is a tender and funny romantic comedy about what we say and how we say it, about the things we can only hear in the silence, activism, eye contact and lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons.

To book tickets for all our plays and events, visit ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk or phone Ilkley Playhouse box office on 01943 609539.