The Pantaloons
Encyclopedia
The Pantaloons are an English touring theatre company specialising in open-air productions of the plays of William Shakespeare
. Their work draws from a wide variety of popular theatre traditions, and is often performed for free in public spaces.
, performing an all-male, open-air production of As You Like It
in Canterbury
, Kent. They regrouped the following year for a small-scale tour of The Winter’s Tale, which involved their first free performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The scale of their tours has increased since then, and the company now tour extensively across the UK.
The Pantaloons have produced a variety of free performances every year since 2005 in public spaces such as The Scoop
, London, Preston Park, Brighton
, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
.
Since their foundation, the company have performed:
The company have recently branched out into non-Shakespearean productions, with a winter tour of Dickens's A Christmas Carol in late 2010 and a summer tour of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
planned for 2011.
The company began to attract national attention with their 2008 production of The Taming of the Shrew, with coverage in The Guardian and Independent newspapers focusing largely on their free shows and family appeal. Their Romeo and Juliet was listed by The Sunday Times in 2009 as one of their picks for the summer.
As of 2011, the company also give school workshops on Shakespeare for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Their work draws from a wide variety of popular theatre traditions, and is often performed for free in public spaces.
History
The Pantaloons were founded in 2004 at the University of KentUniversity of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
, performing an all-male, open-air production of As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, Kent. They regrouped the following year for a small-scale tour of The Winter’s Tale, which involved their first free performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The scale of their tours has increased since then, and the company now tour extensively across the UK.
The Pantaloons have produced a variety of free performances every year since 2005 in public spaces such as The Scoop
The Scoop
The Scoop is an outdoor amphitheatre situated on the south side of the River Thames near Tower Bridge in London, located underneath City Hall, providing seating for approximately 800 people...
, London, Preston Park, Brighton
Preston Park, Brighton
Preston Park is a park near Preston Village in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. It is located in Preston Park ward to the north of the centre of Brighton, and served by the nearby Preston Park railway station....
, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Originally founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh,...
.
Since their foundation, the company have performed:
- As You Like It (2004)
- The Winter’s Tale (2005)
- Romeo and Juliet (2006)
- CymbelineCymbelineCymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...
(2006) - A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2007)
- The Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
(2008) - Romeo and Juliet (2009)
- Twelfth Night (2009)
- Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(2010) - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(2010) - A Christmas CarolA Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
(2010)
The company have recently branched out into non-Shakespearean productions, with a winter tour of Dickens's A Christmas Carol in late 2010 and a summer tour of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
planned for 2011.
The company began to attract national attention with their 2008 production of The Taming of the Shrew, with coverage in The Guardian and Independent newspapers focusing largely on their free shows and family appeal. Their Romeo and Juliet was listed by The Sunday Times in 2009 as one of their picks for the summer.
As of 2011, the company also give school workshops on Shakespeare for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4.