The Tempest
Locations
18 spectacular outdoor venues
Performances
21 splendid performances
Tickets
Over 5,000 sold
Year
2022
Our 2022 production was The Tempest, Shakespeare’s island romance of magic and music, all with a Bossa-Nova heartbeat.
Photographs by James Millar
Reception
Critical Acclaim
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘I highly recommend you take all of your family and friends to see this production of The Tempest in one of London’s beautiful open spaces’
– Lost in Theatreland
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘Delightful, quaint and enchanting … pure theatrical magic.’
– Broadway World
‘A cheerful, bossa-nova infused production performed by an engaging cast of actor-musicians. Fun and accessible’
– The Stage
‘Joyful and funny with a timeless quality and generosity of spirit. I feel sure Shakespeare would have enjoyed that production, and seeing it so lovingly performed in outdoor surrounds’
– Thea O, Queen’s Park
‘This is how Shakespeare ought to be performed. The productions are always iconoclastic and daring. This Tempest was quite literally magic’
– Veronica C, St Anne’s, Wandsworth
‘I loved the story and how funny the actors were. I wanted to go again’
– Rufus (age 10), Cleveland Square
‘One of my favourite nights of the year: your resilience as a company, the energy and joy you brought to the gardens, the music and song augmented by the wind blowing through the trees is unique’
– Nicholas M, St James’s Gardens
‘Brilliant casting and costumes and music’
– Sheila T, Leinster Square
‘A London institution.’
– Time Out
‘Make like Dame Judi Dench and snatch tickets’
– ES Magazine
‘Unalloyed joy: outstandingly brilliant performances and witty, imaginative direction’
– Frances E, Arundel & Elgin
‘Quite wonderful. Exceeded all expectations’
– Vivien, Queen’s Park
‘A lovely production: even the tiny tots stayed enthralled throughout’’
– Liz B, Charterhouse Square
‘A triumph! Brilliantly fresh yet at the same time not letting us forget how relevant Shakespeare is today’
– Alison C, Cornwall Gardens
‘The concept was great and not a dud note – what presence and skill and wit: and evening of pure pleasure, the best yet’
– Roland P, Leinster Square
‘Congratulations on your most entertaining, skilful and innovative production. Even the best-known lines worked freshly in this take. And what choice of music: foot-tapping, hand-clapping fun’
– Sheila M, St Anne’s, Wandsworth
‘It was great when the actors interacted with us – it made me laugh and I felt like I was in the play’
– Kit (age 12), Cleveland Square
Actors
Cast
Mark Carlisle
Alonso
Mark’s theatre credits include The Lady Vanishes (Bill Kenright), Glengarry Glen Ross (West End), Peter Pan (Northcott Theatre), Once (Phoenix Theatre),The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Duchess Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre), Arabian Nights (Manchester Library Theatre), Cinderella (Citizens Theatre Glasgow), The Happy Prince (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff), Arabian Nights (Derby Playhouse), The Jungle Book (Birmingham Stage Company), Hubble Bubble (Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch), Cyrano and Love’s Labours Lost (Oxford Shakespeare Company) West Side Story (Pola Jones), The Herbal Bed (RSC), The Crucible (Sheffield Crucible), The Innocents (Greenwich Theatre), Carmen 1936 (Northern Stage Company), Peter and the Captain (BAC).
TV includes Doctors, The Crown, Hard Sun, Casualty, Emmerdale, Red Dwarf.
Laura Gómez Gracia
Gonzala/Juno
Laura is a Spanish actor who graduated from the MTA in 2019, after completing a degree in Acting and Musical Theatre from the ESAD of Murcia (Spain).
Her stage credits include Calamity Jane, Seussical, By the Bog of Cats and Cinderella. She has also performed on ‘The Last Leg’ and worldwide as a lead vocalist for TED entertainment.
Laura is thrilled to be joining this production of The Tempest and wants to thank her family and friends for their continued love and support.
Indigo Griffiths
Miranda
Indigo’s theatre credits include The Lost Words for BBC Proms, No 1 UK Tour of Persuasion, Peter Pan at Theatre Royal Winchester and The Mulatto Girl at Nuffield Theatre, Southampton. She is excited to return to Shakespeare in the Squares having performed in Romeo and Juliet for SITS in 2017.
Indigo’s screen credits include playing Frankie (Series Lead) in Still So Awkward for CBBC, The One for Netflix, BBC’s Casualty and Apple TV’s Mechanical, Season 1.
Phyllis Ho
Ariel/Boatswain
Phyllis trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Theatre includes The Mozart Question (The Barn Theatre, Cirencester), Life of Pi (Wyndham’s Theatre), Giraffes Can’t Dance (Curve, Leicester), The Vagina Monologues (Ugly Duck), Gary’s Not Well (Ragged Trouser Theatre), A Weekend Near Madison (Island Productions), Beggar’s Opera (Seven Tyrants Theatre).
Film includes Fish, Are You Sleeping? Mr Baggage, The Wilding, Untold Stories of the ER.
Ellis Kerkhoven
Prospero
Ellis trained at the Guildford School of Acting, receiving scholarships from Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Michael Redgrave.
Theatre (West End, National and International) includes: Rock’n’Roll, Fantastic Mr Fox, Julius Caesar, The Importance of Being Earnest, Charley’s Aunt, Hayfever, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Silence, Ghost Train, The Amazons, Enchanted, Theatre SOUK, The Twelve Tenors, Santa Claus, Aida… plus too many pantos to mention!
TV/Film: Strange (BBC), Doctors (BBC), Shelf Life, Last Call, Simon & Emily, Correction Facility, My Dearest Darling, Silent Whisper. Radio: Giving
William Shackleton
Antonio/Stefano
William is a Chester born actor and singer. Since graduating from the BA Acting Course at East 15 Acting School, he has worked regularly in theatre and screen.
His credits include: Romeo & Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Three Inch Fools, UK Tour) ,A Christmas Carol (Germany Tour, ADGE/TNT), Testament (Hope Theatre & Incoming Festival UK Tour, Chalk Line Theatre), Aura: A Musical in the Dark (Theatre R&D, Teatru Malta), Devoured (Short Film, written and directed by Billy Dudley).
William is an Associate Artist of Chalk Line Theatre (Untapped Award Winners 2022).
Wilf Walsworth
Ferdinand/Caliban
Wilf graduated from Sheffield University in 2019 with a Masters in robotics engineering, and is now an actor.
He has previously trained with The Actors Class, and is currently part of the Lyric Hammersmith’s Springboard actor training programme, after performing on the Lyric stage in Heart of Hammersmith last year.
Other credits include Buried at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and My Mate Dave Died at the Edinburgh Fringe. While at university he took on numerous roles including Benjamin in The Graduate, Hannay in The 39 Steps, and Melchior in Spring Awakening.
Wilf loves football, cooking and maths.
Sasha Wilson
Sebastia/Trincula
Sasha is a LAMDA-trained actor, musician and Artistic Director of Out Of The Forest Theatre.
She has won numerous awards including an Offie in 2019 for Best Ensemble in Bury The Hatchet and the Broadway World Best Actress Award in 2018 for her performance as Juliet in Southwest Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet.
Other theatre includes: Lady Macbeth (Theatre 101), Cassius in Julius Caesar (V&A Museum), Sir Toby Belch/ Antonio in Twelfth Night (Southwest Shakespeare Company), Hippolyta in Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Lazarus Theatre). For Out Of The Forest Theatre: Louisa and Jo (& Me), The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III King of Bulgaria, Call Me Fury, Bury The Hatchet.
Behind the Scenes
Crew
Sue Fletcher
Executive Producer
Sue had a forty-year career in book publishing, including as co-founder of Headline and Deputy MD of Hodder & Stoughton. She has an MA in Theatre and Performance from Queen Mary, University of London, and in 2011 was one of the judges for the Olivier Awards. She goes to the theatre three or four times a week and remains captivated by the magic of live performance.
Martin Neild
Executive Producer
Martin worked in publishing for over thirty years. He worked for Macmillan in Australia,Africa and London and became Chief Executive of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers in 1993. He is Co-Chair of the Oxford School of Drama, Chair of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival and a trustee of the Michael Cuddigan Trust which gives grants to young composers. He, too, is a regular and passionate theatregoer.
Tom Attwood
Music Director
Recent credits include: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story (Music Director, Nottingham Playhouse & Alexandra Palace); The Game of Love And Chance (Sound Design, Arcola Theatre); Mr & Mrs Nobody (Sound Design, Jermyn Street Theatre); Skellig (Composer/Sound Design, Nottingham Playhouse); Jerusalem (Sound Design/MD: Watermill Theatre).
Yarit Dor
Movement and Fight Director
For Shakespeare In The Squares: Romeo and Juliet; As You Like It; A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other theatre: The Shark Is Broken (West End); Death Of A Salesman (West End/ Young Vic); Rockets and Blue Lights (National Theatre); “Daddy” A Melodrama (Almeida Theatre); Love & Other Acts Of Violence (Donmar Warehouse). Dance: Rooms, Peaky Blinders (Rambert Dance Company); The Burnt City (Punchdrunk).
Jane Frisby
Casting Director
I had a really joyous time casting ‘The Tempest’ for SITS. Theatre: coming soon ‘Diversifi cations’ at the Old Red Lion. Recently ‘SAD’ and ‘Small Change’ both Omnibus Theatre. Previously ‘Translations’, ‘Carthaginians’ and ‘Brendan at the Chelsea’ for Director Adrian Dunbar.
Sioned Jones
Director
Sioned is a theatre-maker: actor, director, writer, composer and dramaturg. She worked on five National Theatre shows and six West End shows, and has been involved in nine Shakespeare plays, most recently, as Titania/Hippolyta in Shakespeare in the Squares,‘ A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. She is a keen painter and potter.
Alex Pearson
Assistant Director
Alex is a director and producer; recent credits: Taming of the Clueless (The Show Must Go Online), The Merchant of Venice (Drayton Arms), Oranges and Ink (Tristan Bates) Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s, Romeo and Juliet, and Much Ado About Nothing. As Associate Director: Harpy (UK Tour), Natural Affection (Jermyn Street).
Laura Alexander-Smith
Assistant Stage Manager
Laura is a Freelance Assistant Stage Manager with recent contracts including; ASM (Book Cover) Teechers Leavers’22 & 71 Coltman Street at Hull Truck Theatre; ASM on Book for Beauty & the 7 Beasts with the Opera Story and ASM on Cinderella at New Theatre Royal Portsmouth.
Francesca Gregson
Marketing Manager
Francesca is the director and founder of Distrikt Communications, a London-based agency that promotes creative businesses. This is Francesca’s first year working with Shakespeare in the Squares and, having always had a passion for theatre, she is very much enjoying it. Francesca’s other clients include architects, designers and small creative businesses.
Kathryn Corlett
Graphic Designer
Kathryn is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator and has had the pleasure of creating the publicity artwork for Shakespeare in the Squares since 2018. She studied Graphic Design at Falmouth College of Arts and has 17 years of experience as a professional designer. In 2021 she designed and illustrated her first children’s book.
Heather Cooper
Company Manager
Heather hails from Toronto, Canada and has had the pleasure of making theatre in the UK for four years. She enjoys fostering cats and trying to keep her houseplants alive. Recent credits: Our Carnal Hearts (Arch 468 & Mull Theatre), Aladdin! (Imagine Theatre), Pericles for people with Autism (Flute Theatre).
Emily Stuart
Designer
For Shakespeare in the Squares: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing. Recent theatre credits: Orlando (Jermyn Street Theatre – Off West End Nomination for Best Costume Design 2022) Pictures of Dorian Gray (Jermyn Street Theatre – Off West End Nomination for best costume design 2019).
Colette Robinson-Collcut
Costume Supervisor
Colette graduated at Wimbledon College of Arts. She has worked as a costume assistant, maker, and supervisor. Her roles include Le Grand Cirque Taiwan and Park theatres’ Whodunnit Unrehearsed. Alongside costume she also makes wigs for fi lm, contributing to features you will have watched.
Hannah Arteaga
Wardrobe Assistant
A recent London College of Fashion graduate and aspiring costume designer, she got her first job in costume when she was 16. Having recently been Wardrobe Supervisor for Seven Dials Playhouse, she is looking to experience everything the industry has to offer and see where her career takes her.
Previous Years
Past Productions
Twelfth Night
2023
The Tempest
2022
A Midsummer Night's Dream
2019
As You Like It
2018
Romeo & Juliet
2017
Much Ado About Nothing
2016