Thursday 3 March 2022

2022 Plans!!

We are delighted to be returning to magnificent Morden Hall Park this year for four different shows this Spring/Summer!!

21st & 22nd May - Aesop Fables: The Harvest Festival and Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds: How the Seasons came to be. Firm favourites in the Fireside Folktales collection we're thrilled to be bringing them to Morden Hall Park.


18th & 19th JuneDiamond Days. In this record-breaking Royal Jubilee year, journey back in time to Queen Victoria’s reign, June 1897, and experience the last Royal Diamond Jubilee (the longest rule, before our own Queen Elizabeth II) for yourself! 

A fascinating presentation by three estimable – and opinionated! - Victorian journalists on the exciting events of Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Hear the Queen’s own thoughts on the day, enjoy the reaction of the cheering crowds, sing the songs that were sung, and indulge your tastebuds while listening to eyewitness reports from the people who were lucky enough to be there…   

The wearing of Victorian costume is strongly encouraged  – though not compulsory – and prizes will be awarded at the end of the evening for the most eye-catching efforts of the night! 

Ticket for all these shows (and our Shadow Road Production of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) are available at www.ticketsource.co.uk/shadowroad

30th July - St George's Quest - an adventure trail through Morden Hall Park. Are you brave and clever enough to take on the challenges, riddles and games on this interactive trail to face... the dragon! (Ages 4+, different levels of difficulties available)
- details, and tickets to be announced in the coming months. 

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Then this Autumn we will once again be returning to The Coach and Horses, a beautiful family friendly pub in the heart of Barnes. It has been a joy performing here over the years and we can't wait to be back here again.

4th SeptemberAesop Fables: The Harvest Festival and Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds: How the Seasons came to be. The Fireside Folktales family is working hard with four performances on the same day, catch one or both of these shows and enjoy a fabulous themed meal at The Coach and Horses.
- tickets for this and for A Christmas Carol will become available in the coming months - watch this space.

2021 Wrap up 💖

Macbeth: Sleep No More - Southside House

We were delighted to return to Southside House again this year, this time with our production of Macbeth: Sleep No More. Staring Amy Floyd, Emma King-Farlow, and Sarah Robinson, with Georgie Melling enhancing the haunting atmosphere with her beautiful Violin playing.

Performing two special candlelit shows on Halloween Eve, the evening tickets sold out fast!! It was so wonderful to be back performing to a full house after the last two years and we couldn't have hoped for a better audience! 

The show began in the grand entrance hall of Southside House, audience gathered together when a crash of thunder and rippling of supernatural sounds heralded the arrival of the three witches, high on the balcony looking down on the gathered mortals. Emma King-Farlow's original opening set the scene for this dark tale, filled with ambition, betrayal, and murder. With the witches dire prophecies ringing in their ears the audiences were guided to their seats by the eerie and beautiful violin playing of resident Southside House musician Georgie Melling. From here the audience remained seated while Shakespeare's tragic tale played out before them. 

A Christmas Carol - St Mary's Barnes and Morden Hall Park

After having to cancel our 2020 Christmas plans we were delighted to bring a Fireside Folktales production to St Mary's Barnes! Not the first time at this beautiful Church for the Shadow Road family, we were delighted to be back with this intimate production of A Christmas Carol. Starring Amy Floyd, Emma King-Farlow, Sarah Robinson, and Alice Hope Wilson.

From there we continued our run at the wonderful Morden Hall Park, where they welcomed us back after this Summers success with  A Tale of Robin Hood: The Rescue!

Reviews:

“What a show. Beautifully adapted and Scrooge's transformation was heart-wrenching, then fabulously joyful! Merry Christmas Everyone!”

“Excellent start to Christmas season!”

“Amazing performance. We came as a family and were impressed with all your amazing talent! Congratulations!”

“A great imaginative staging with impressive acting, singing and costumes.”

“I now feel full of Christmas Spirit! Thank you so much. You are resourceful, imaginative and great at what you do.”

“Made my day! Great acting and brilliant singing.”

“Delightedly brought in the sprit of Christmas - what a talented and enjoyable group of actors - loved it for its simplicity and clever interpretation. Well done!”

“A wonderful heart-warming tale. Brilliantly written and amazing acting!”

“We absolutely loved your show, and energy, your brought it all to life. Thank you - And brilliant puppets and props.”

“Excellent! Very well acted and the story brought it to life. Lovely singing too!”

“This was a great show. Exciting, touching, classy, great characters, and nice singing too. Well done!”

“Heart warming and spine tingling at times. And beautiful singing! Well done.”

“Absolutely fantastic. Tears for Scrooge, then my jaw was sore from smiling at the end.”

“Very creatively done! We loved all the carols interwoven into the play. Engaging to watch!”

“Thank you for a marvellous performance of my favourite festive story.”

“Thank you for an amazing start to Christmas. Much enjoyed and Captivated.”

“What a lovely show, so talented for such a small troupe. Look forward to any more that come.”

Monday 14 June 2021

Robin Hood Returns!

We are delighted to bring a brand new production of Robin Hood to Morden Hall Park in July 2021

It is with great excitement we can announce that tickets are on sale for our open-air production of  A Tale of Robin Hood: The Rescue at the National Trust's stunning Morden Hall Park!!

This new production, written especially for Morden Hall, will take place in their beautiful Rose Garden, with the audience socially distanced in accordance with government guidelines.

Originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, this show -
filled with sword fights, heroism and romance, along with live music, singing, and dancing - was sadly postponed for a year due to the pandemic. We cannot wait to bring it to you this summer!

Can our valiant heroes defeat the evil tyrant who rules over Loxley in the King's absence? Might Sir Guy of Gisborne finally succeed in his lifelong mission to see Robin Hood hanged? Can true love conquer all - or will the wait 'until death do us part' be a shockingly short one? Join Robin and his friends on a daring mission to save Gisborne’s prisoners from the hangman’s noose and find out!

Running Time: 1h 15m
Dates: Fri 30th July to Mon 2nd August & Sun 15th Aug
Times: 11.30am & 2.30pm each day

Book online at:
(Due to current Covid restrictions, all households will be seated together and socially distanced from others.)

Wednesday 2 June 2021

We've Won - Christmas Starts in September!

#StoryGivesBack Winners Announced

We are delighted that Shadow Road Productions have just been announced as one of the two winners of this year's #StoryGivesBack initiative from Story Events!

Following the online vote, first by previous visitors to Story's renowned London Christmas Party Show and then by the wider public, we have been named as one of the two boutique suppliers they would most like to meet! As a result, our prize is the offer of a free stand at the 2021 show on the 7th and 8th September, so that they can do just that!

You can read more about us and the show - and find out how to register to visit yourself - on the #StoryGivesBack page on their website, here.

As some of you may already be aware, Shadow Road is a small independent theatre company which specialises in bringing exciting pieces of theatre for all ages and occasions to unusual venues and spaces in creative new ways. Our work usually involves a charitable aspect of some kind – raising awareness or funds - or, as with Fireside Folktales in particular, taking live entertainment out to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy it.

We are now aiming to branch out into events, corporate entertainment, and private parties – offering something original and exciting to these markets and, in turn, enabling us to fund more of our voluntary and charity work elsewhere. Winning this competition is a wonderful opportunity for us to meet many of the people who could help us take those next steps into the future and we can't wait to show everyone the fantastic entertainment – festive and otherwise – that we have to offer!