Summer Theatre in Wakefield

Step into the glittering, scandalous, witty world of Oscar Wilde at Theatre Royal Wakefield! This funny, fierce and moving show brings the loves, losses, successes and struggles of the iconic man to brilliant life. From dazzling literary heights to a devastating fall that shocked the world, you’ll be immersed in the journey of a man who lived and loved without compromise, whilst creating some the most famous – and famously funny – plays still adored by millions today.

Theatre Royal Wakefield
Tuesday 9 June – Wednesday 10 June, 7:30pm-9:20pm
From £15, booking essential

Poop-Poop! Welcome to the Riverbank! Step out of the sun and into the cool, rustling reeds of the River Calder for Kenneth Grahame’s classic The Wind in the Willows. Join woodland friends Ratty, Mole and Badger (and, of course, Mr Toad!) as they overcome their individual hardships and embrace one thing – their alliance and devotion to each other. So mind the oars, watch out for the stoats, and prepare for a “simply topping” time at the theatre!

Cluntergate Centre, Horbury, WF4 5DA
Saturday 20 June – Sunday 21 June, various times
£2.50, booking essential

All 37 plays. Three actors. One wildly funny show. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is the bard’s works rebooted and reimagined by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, on the stage at Theatre Royal Wakefield.
Expect Hamlet performed backwards, Titus Andronicus as a YouTube cooking tutorial, and all of the History plays turned into a chaotic football match where the crown is kicked from king to king – and lots more!

Theatre Royal Wakefield
Thursday 25 June – Saturday 27 June, 7:30pm-9:10pm
From £15, booking essential

Award-winning theatre maker Scott Turnbull, and Red Ladder Theatre Company, brings Surreally Good to Horbury’s Cluntergate Centre. Scott is the finest “Edutainment Officer” in the business, a leading expert in “Overhead animation and lo-fi storytelling”, a renowned descendent of the “Turnbull Family Edutainment programme” and a grieving son. Will he succumb to the lure of big money boom-boom, or realise his artistic integrity and tell the story he’s always wanted to tell?

Horbury, WF4 5DA
Saturday 27 June, 6pm-7pm
From £5, booking essential

The Duke’s Theatre Company presents Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a bold reimagining of the iconic tragedy performed in the open air at Nostell. Blending dynamic staging, evocative sound, and the enduring power of Shakespeare’s verse, this retelling illuminates the passion, peril, and youthful intensity at the play’s core, inviting audiences to rediscover the world’s most famous star-crossed lovers.

National Trust Nostell
Sunday 5 July, 5:30pm-7:30pm
From £16.26, booking essential

Red Ladder Theatre present Colosseum of Chaos, a fast, interactive, and hilariously chaotic theatrical experience at Queen’s Mill, Castleford. Two absurd Gladiators worship an onstage Amazon Alexa, who commands them to battle each other, perform ridiculous feats, or invite the audience into increasingly silly games! expect highly choreographed slapstick fight sequences, with the audience controlling the soundtrack via Alexa, from Eye of the Tiger to Kpop Demon Hunters’ Golden. It’s ridiculous, competitive, and entirely in your hands!

Queen’s Mill
Friday 24 July, 2pm-3pm
Tickets from £5, booking essential

All for one – and one for all! Young D’Artagnan is desperate to  become an elite Musketeer. To prove himself he must retrieve the Queen’s jewels, restore Her Majesty’s honour, survive the machinations of scheming Cardinal Richelieu, and cross swords with the deadly Milady de Winter. Join the Illyria Outdoor Theatre team at Pontefract Castle for a sparkling adaptation of Dumas’ classic in this magical historic setting.

Pontefract Castle
Saturday 8 August, 6:30pm-9pm
From £10, booking essential

The Band is coming to Theatre Royal Wakefield! It’s 1992 and for five 16-year-old girls, ‘the band’ means everything. 25 years later, the friends reunite in Prague to see their teenage heartthrobs one last time, and try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting the boyband whose music became the soundtrack to their lives. Performed by Wakefield Youth Theatre, The Band features all your favourite songs from Take That, including Never Forget, Back For Good, A Million Love Songs, Greatest Day and so many more.

Theatre Royal Wakefield
Wednesday 19 August – Saturday 29 August, 7:30pm – 10pm
From £15, booking essential

Join the Handlebards at Pontefract Castle for a fantastically funny bicycle-powered production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Rosalind and her cousin Celia flee to the Forest of Arden, where they bump into Rosalind’s love interest Orlando. However, Rosalind is disguised as a young man. Cue some local Shepherds getting involved and the stage is set for a wild ride of wooing, hilarious mistaken identity and the odd wrestling match!

Pontefract Castle
Thursday 20 August, 6:30pm-8:30pm
From £10, booking essential