Shakespeare under the stars: Twelfth Night comes to Doddington Hall
A 400-year-old comedy returns to a hall from its time, performed just as Shakespeare intended
A historic setting meets a timeless tale this week as Twelfth Night takes to the open air at Lincolnshire’s Doddington Hall.
Performed by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the UK’s premier all-male Shakespeare company, this production brings the beloved comedy of love, loss, and mistaken identity to life in a way that’s true to its 17th-century roots.
Artistic Director Peter Stickney says Doddington is one of the most fitting stops on their nationwide summer tour.
“Doddington is particularly special,” he says. “Looking at this beautiful, beautiful hall that was created in the time Shakespeare was alive and writing Twelfth Night."
The company, known for performing in stunning heritage sites across the UK, presents Twelfth Night just as it would have been seen in Shakespeare’s day - with an all-male cast, Elizabethan costumes, live music, and open-air staging.
"There's something particularly magical about seeing Shakespeare's work under the same stars that Shakespeare might have sat and looked at in his time," says Stickney, "connecting us now to him then."
"Shakespeare writes a lot about the natural world. There's a scene at the end where Sebastian says 'this is the air, that is the glorious sun', and he's outside breathing the air and looking at the glorious sun."
Twelfth Night includes all the classic elements - shipwrecks, twins, disguises, and romance -while exploring universal themes of identity and self-discovery.
“It’s about love and loss, but also about being yourself, and who really sees you for who you are,” says Stickney.
The production runs at Doddington Hall on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th August.