THE eighth edition of the York International Shakespeare Festival opens tomorrow (21/4/2026), featuring performances from across Europe and beyond, all grounded in William Shakespeare’s work, until May 3.
More than 40 events will be staged at festival partners York St John University and Theatre@41, Monkgate, the Yorkshire Museum and Merchant Adventurers’ Hall.
Highlights will include American performer and festival artist-in-residence Lisa Wolpe in Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender; With Love’s Light Wings, a theatrical experience inspired by Romeo And Juliet, from Georgia; Shakespeare and Rome, a collaboration with York Museums Trust; Codename Othello, a UK/Ukraine collaboration, featuring performers from York and Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine, and the world premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d by American playwright Scott Bradley, who is in York for the festival.
Look out too for new work from York-based Ukrainian theatre company D.Space; Romanian productions of The Taming Of The Shrew and Richard 3; York composer Morag Galloway’s autobiographical piece Dog Daze; productions of Hamlet from Romania and the UK, complemented by a day exploring David Gothard’s Hamlet archive; Timonopoly, by Edinburgh Fringe award winner Emily Carding, and Petty Me, the ShakeSphere Selection 2026. The full programme can be found at yorkshakes.co.uk, where tickets can be booked.
Taking part in the festival too will be the York Shakespeare Project, directed by Anna Gallon for the first time in Love’s Labours Lost as Shakespeare meets the 1990s’ club scene in an immersive new take on the Bard’s early comedy.
With Love’s Light Wings, a Georgian theatrical experience inspired by Romeo And Juliet, playing York International Shakespeare Festival at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 21 at 8.30pm
Set in the heat and heighted passions of modern nightlife, Anna’s reinvention will run at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from April 22 to 25.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Anna as our director,” says YSP chair Tony Froud. “She emerged from an outstanding group of applicants, since when she has brought energy and excitement into the rehearsal room. This promises to translate into a totally memorable and entertaining show.
“York is very fortunate to have so many outstanding young directors. This production will show Anna as a key member of that group.”
Anna is co-founder and artistic director of York theatre company Four Wheel Drive, perhaps best known for its 2023 production of The Trial Of Margaret Clitheroe in the Guildhall. She also appeared as Lucetta in YSP’s The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, directed by Tempest Wisdom in 2024.
“I’m thrilled to be directing Love’s Labour’s Lost for YSP,” she says. “It’s a dazzling, witty play about language, love, and self-discovery – and I can’t wait to bring it to life in a way that feels vibrant and connected to the world we live in today.”
Set firmly in the here and now, Anna’s Love’s Labour’s Lost will re-imagine Shakespeare’s sparkling comedy of wit, wordplay, vows and romantic mischief in clubland. Her playful production promises to mix verse, rhythm, dance and striking visuals to create a fresh and contemporary celebration of love, temptation and folly.
The King of Navarre and his three companions are re-imagined by Anna as the DJs who once ruled York’s club scene but have now renounced the wild world of drink, dance and late nights, committing themselves instead to a retreat of abstinence: no women, no drink and definitely no dance floors.
However, when the Princess of France and her entourage arrive, their solemn vows begin to unravel, as Anna explores. “I want this comedy of discipline versus desire to play out not in a palace, but in a bar, where vows are as fragile as your morals after one too many tequila shots,” she says.
“My interpretation uses Shakespeare’s original language but finds playful, recognisable parallels for modern audiences: ageing players try to resist temptation, while nightlife culture collides with wellness culture and the irresistible force of love.”
As a key element of Anna’s production, the audience will find Theatre@41’s John Cooper Studio transformed from black box into a nightclub. “The bar setting will place Shakespeare into a familiar social space,” she says. “Instead of watching from a distance, theatregoers will find themselves inside the comedy: vows made across tables, love confessions unfolding on dance floors. It will be a shared night out for all.”
York Shakespeare Project’s poster artwork for Love’s Labours Lost
Anna’s cast features many faces familiar to York audiences, such as Ian Giles as Don Adriano de Armado, Tempest Wisdom as page Moth, Harry Summers as Longaville and Nick Patrick Jones as Berowne, complemented by six actors new to YSP, Nason Crone’s Dumaine, Vicky Hatt’s Katherine, Helen Clarke’s Boyet, Elizabeth Duggan’s Costard, Stephen Huws’ Holofernes and Sarah McKeagney’s Sir Nathaniel.
Tony enthuses: “We are very excited that Anna’s production has attracted so many actors who are working with us for the first time. Only three of this cast appeared in our last show, Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, at Theatre@41 last October. It’s a very healthy and invigorating mix.
“In a very strong cast, it’s particularly pleasing to YSP to see Grace Scott and Ben Reeves Rowley in the central parts of Rosaline and the King of Navarre. Both first appeared in our annual Summer Sonnets show and it’s great to see them progressing to major parts in a full production.”
Why should you see YSP’s Love’s Labours Lost? Let veteran cast member Ian Giles entice you: “Off the scale for daring entertainment, one of Shakespeare’s most verbal comedies is set in King’s Night Spot in 2005 with a soundtrack of Nineties and Noughties’ belters – what could possibly go wrong (or should that be right)? Come and find out.”
York Shakespeare Project presents Love’s Labour’s Lost, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 22 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
