Friends of Middleton Park welcome back Oddsocks Theatre Company for a night of Shakespeare in the park on Tuesday (8 July 2025). If you think that sounds a bit heavy for a Tuesday night, you clearly haven’t seen Oddsocks before.
The company perform Shakespeare with a twist of pantomime and it’s always a gloriously funny, family-friendly show.
Shakespeare’s most magical, fast paced, hilarious comedy ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ will be performed in Oddsocks’ inimitable irreverent and knockabout style with live music, comedy action and even some outrageous hunting dogs!
Four lovers run off to the Athenian forest where mysterious woodland creatures play tricks on them with hilarious results and when a troupe of amateur actors decide to rehearse in a glade, the fairies intervention leads to bizarre and outrageous comedy.
The Stage gave a 4 star review saying:
“Oddsocks excels in an entertaining show which succeeds as both farce and a perfect introduction to Shakespeare.”
Others said:
“A thoroughly enjoyable night out. Once again, they’ve succeeded in making Shakespeare accessible.”
“Many times the beauty and cadence of the bard’s lines ring out even amidst the comedic clamour.”
“a magical combination of farce, physical theatre, silly sight gags, puppetry and, yes, the bard’s immortal prose.”
The show is on Tuesday 8 July at the Bandstand next to the Visitor Centre in Middleton Park. The performance, which is suitable for all ages from 7-107, starts at 7pm. The performance lasts two hours including an interval.
The show is free, however a collection will be taken to support the Friends of Middleton Park’s programme of events.
Please bring your own chair or blanket to sit out on. An umbrella might be useful as the show will go ahead rain or shine. Refreshments will be served in the visitor centre.
Later in July you can enjoy a programme of popular music from stage and screen as Featherstone-based SoundTrack Brass, one of Yorkshire’s newest bands. They take to the bandstand on Sunday 13 July, 2-4pm.
On Sunday 27 July there will be a guided Summer Walk. Part of Love Parks Week, the walk will look at various woodland activities and the wider flora and fauna of the park. With decent weather this might include butterflies.
For more information about the Friends of Middleton Park go to www.fomp.co.uk or follow them on Facebook here.
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