Shakespeare pop-up set for palace

Four of William Shakespeare’s most loved plays are coming to the grounds of “Britain’s Greatest Palace”.

Following the success of Europe’s first pop-up Shakespearean theatre in York last year, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III and Romeo & Juliet will be performed in the gardens of Blenheim Palace.

The stately home – residence of the Duke of Marlborough – is staging the event in a move to boost the economy of the local area over a nine-week period.

The venue, a 13-sided Elizabethan-style playhouse complete with a period village, will house 900 – with 540 seats and a courtyard for 340 “groundlings”.

Chief executive of the palace Dominic Hare said: “This is Shakespeare country, this is an area where local people love their culture, this is a place that’s uniquely positioned.”