A NUMBER of pub gardens in Hampshire and Surrey have been providing the perfect backdrop for some classic performances this summer.

One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, delighted audiences at The Mill in Elstead, The Links Tavern in Liphook and The Jolly Farmer in Alton this month.

Performed by the Open Bar Theatre Company, the play promised “more pomp that the Royal Wedding” and “more partner swapping than Love Island”.

When two sets of young lovers and a hapless amateur theatre company make their way into the forest one midsummer’s night, they find themselves in the midst of a petty feud between the king and queen of the fairies. Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons are to be married and great celebrations are planned, when a story of order and disorder, reality and appearance and love and marriage unfolds.

Produced and directed by Nicky Diss, the cast featured Susanna Wolff as Queen Titania and Helena, Thomas Judd as Lysander and King Oberon, Cassandra Hercules as Hermina, Joshua Okpala as Demetrius, Adam Courting as Oberon and Nick Bottom, and Vicky Gaskin as a brilliant and mischievous Puck.

From the Athenian Court of Theseus, to a night in the forest of King Oberon and Queen Titania’s fairy world, where Puck was spinning his mischief, the actors involved the audience in several plots and received a standing ovation after three superbly delivered acts.

Open Bar was launched in 2016 and are commissioned by Fuller’s to provide live open air theatre in its pubs’ beer gardens.

Their first production, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, featuring founder member Vicky Gaskin, proved to be a sell-out, receiving rave reviews.

The company is now inviting suggestions for next year’s Shakespeare production via its Twitter and Facebook pages @weareopenbar and /openbartheatre.