Leamington Open Air Theatre Back in Business

Heartbreak Productions was aptly named last year as the Leamington based open air theatre company suffered the double whammy of poor weather and funding difficulties.   But thrills, masks, dance and poetry will be back to entertain Leamington audiences when they return with its usual brand of popular open-air shows this summer. Crowds in Jephson Gardens can expect to see the company back in fighting form with Romeo and Juliet making an appearance to a modern spin this coming June, with Press officer Nicci Selby saying that it will “combine thrills and dynamism, masks, dance, blades, potions and poetry” and described it as a “must-see” for the summer.

Also something to watch out for is a brand new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s best-known tale for this year. Alice - An Extraordinary Adventure will offer the excitement, colour and song from Wonderland and provide the audience with a party atmosphere - which includes the tea-toting Mad Hatter, the crazy croquet-playing Queen and the picnic-nicking Knave, along with the rest of Carroll’s bizarre gang. The show will be interactive and imaginative and will be just right for children and adults alike.

Heartbreak Productions is back!

St. John’s Museum at Warwick will be the atmospheric setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Director Peter Mimmack said: “Dracula has inspired television and film successes such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Twilight, but our production takes you back to where the legend began and forwards - on a journey from Transylvanian castles to Whitby Abbey. Dark, passionate and scary, this production is not for the faint-hearted.”

Heartbreak runs educational productions including the Heartbreak Hub, Saturday morning drama and film wokshops for 5 - 16 year olds, and Educational Experience Days, bringing the high quality standard of the professional theatre to school environments.

Maddy Kerr is the Executive Director, and  is very proud to be part of a company with 20 years heritage, supported by the committed team at Heartbreak HQ in the Cultural Quarter, Leamington Spa and to have been a driving force behind diversifying the artistic output of the company in recent years. Maddy graduated from London University in 1987 and then went onto drama school. In 1991 in association with Peter Mimmack, she raised the curtain on Heartbreak Productions and in so doing realised a long held ambition to create theatre in the open air, a passion heavily influenced by childhood trips to The Minack Theatre in West Cornwall.

Peter Mimmack, the Artistic Director, developed an interest in acting at Newcastle University while studying surveying. He trained at the Arts Educational School London on a postgraduate course and has since gained extensive experience in theatre through forming Heartbreak Productions. The early years were spent either developing the company or on tour but in the last decade Peter has focused on directing.

All productions will open in Leamington and then tour the country. Tickets go on sale at the end of April. For details, visit www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk.