Open Air Theatre
A little London rain couldn’t stop Damian from performing in the presentation of Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year – Live! on Monday July 8, 2024 at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. He played Mark Antony from Julius Caesar Act 3, Scene 2, Quince from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 3, Scene 1, Hamlet from Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1, Posthumus from Cymbeline Act 2, Scene 5, and he also played Henry V from Henry V Act 5, Scene 2. Damian’s brother Gareth, as well as Damian’s two children Manon and Gulliver were in the audience for support. View more photos from the event in our Gallery here.
The evening was curated by Allie Esiri, with extracts taken from her anthology, Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year, an inspiring collection of 365 speeches and scenes from across all of Shakespeare’s plays. Signed copies of the book were available to theatre-goers that evening.
To celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare’s First Folio and over 90 years of Shakespeare performances at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, performers guided the audience on a journey through the Shakespeare we know and the best bits we don’t. There were speeches and scenes performed by actors with a special connection to his work and to the theatre itself.
Other performers included Paul Chahidi, Toheeb Jimoh, Stephen Mangan, Tracy Ann Oberman, Tony Robinson, Danny Sapani, Samantha Spiro, Samuel West, Luke Thompson, Olivia Williams, and Susan Wokoma.
Here’s to a great evening with “good company, good wine, and a good welcome” – Henry VIII
Full Programme:
Act 1 (approx 55 minutes)
Henry V, Prologue | Samuel West as Chorus
Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5 | Tony Robinson as Malvolio
Venus and Adonis | extract Danny Sapani
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2 | Susan Wokoma as Juliet & Toheeb Jimoh as Romeo
Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene 4 | Olivia Williams as Isabella
Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act 4, Scene 3 | Luke Thompson as Berowne
Sonnet 29 | Danny Sapani
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Scene 3 | Stephen Mangan as Parolles
Henry VI, Part 1, Act 1, Scene 2 | Susan Wokoma as Joan la Pucelle
The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Scene 5 | Samantha Spiro as Katherine, Danny Sapani as Petruchio and Paul Chahidi as Hortensio
Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2 | Damian Lewis as Mark Antony
As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 | Paul Chahidi as Jaques
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene 1 | Susan Wokoma as Bottom, Damian Lewis as Quince, TBC as Snout and Paul Chahidi as Starveling
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene 2 | Samantha Spiro as Hermia, Olivia Williams as Helena, Stephen Mangan as Lysander & Samuel West as Demetrius
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 | Damian Lewis as Hamlet
A Silly Poem by Spike Milligan | Tony Robinson
Interval (20 minutes)
Act 2 (approx 35 minutes)
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 | Samuel West as Benedick & Samantha Spiro as Beatrice
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, Scene 1 | Samuel West as Benedick & Samantha Spiro as Beatrice
King John, Act 3, Scene 4 | Olivia Williams as Constance, Toheeb Jimoh as Pandolph & Danny Sapani as King Philip
Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3 | Stephen Mangan as Polonius
Cymbeline, Act 2, Scene 5 | Damian Lewis as Posthumus
Antony and Cleopatra, Act 5, Scene 2 | Olivia Williams as Cleopatra
Measure for Measure, Act 3, Scene 1 | Toheeb Jimoh as Claudio
Richard II, Act 5, Scene 5 | Samuel West as Richard II
Henry V, Act 5, Scene 2 | Damian Lewis as Henry V & Paul Chahidi as Katharine
Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3 | Tony Robinson as Porter
Sonnet 116 | Toheeb Jimoh
The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1 | Tracy Ann Oberman as Shylock
King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4 | Danny Sapani as King Lear & Samantha Spiro as Goneril
The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1 | Luke Thompson as Prospero
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1 | Tony Robinson as Puck