Hosted by: Allie Esiri

Performers: Paul Chahidi, Toheeb Jimoh, Damian Lewis, Stephen Mangan, Tracy Ann Oberman, Tony Robinson, Danny Sapani, Samantha Spiro, Samuel West, Luke Thompson, Olivia Williams, Susan Wokoma.

Running order

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


The evening was curated by Allie Esiri, with extracts taken from her anthology, Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year (Pan Macmillan, £22).

Signed copies are available at the theatre after the show.

Thank you: Everyone at the Open Air Theatre, Prof Michael Dobson at Shakespeare Institute, Gaby Morgan at Pan Macmillan.

www.allieesiri.com