Shakespeare with a twist in Leeds parks

Scenes from Shakespeare's plays will feature pop music at the city's parks

A city's parks will prove all the world's a stage by hosting pop-up performances of some Shakespeare classics by a theatre company.

The Bard's works will be performed during free open-air shows at Middleton, Reginald, Bramley and Roundhay parks, in Leeds.

The hour-long shows will bring live music and Shakespeare's works to audiences in the summer of 2020.

The city council said pop hits will be performed to fit some of the scenes.

Actors from Front Room Productions theatre group will be playing some of Shakespeare's best-known scenes, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

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Audiences will also be given the chance to pick a scene out of a hat for the cast to perform on the spot.

The group has previously performed at the city's Kirkgate Market and at Temple Newsam park.

The scenes will be played out Middleton, Reginald, Bramley and Roundhay parks across Leeds

Producer Alice Barber said the shows were "Shakespeare's best bits and we do it in a way that's fun, a bit more modern, but still has at its core all of those same incredible stories and characters that have become such a wonderful part of our heritage".

"By putting these performances on in a local park and bringing them a bit more into the 21st Century, alongside some familiar pop hits that fit the context of the scene, we can give people a new way to enjoy these works of literature in a much less formal environment," she said.

Roundhay Park in Leeds will host some of Shakespeare plays

She added people who had watched their productions before had said it was not their first experience of Shakespeare "but it's the first time they've enjoyed it".

The dates for the performances have yet to be revealed.