An open-air Shakespearean theatre company is to leave Brownsea Island after 60 years of performances.
Brownsea Open Air Theatre’s (BOAT) production of Macbeth this summer will be the last in its established format on the island.
In a statement, it said it had been left with no choice after changes required by the National Trust including audience members bringing their own seating to sit on the grass and less elaborate sets and staging for the shows.
The annual production of Shakespeare on Brownsea Island is attended by more than 4,000 people each year.
The charity community theatre project has donated over £300,000 to the National Trust since 1964.
BOAT has been included in the Guardian’s Top Ten Open Air Theatres in the UK and has links with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Its contribution to the cultural life of the nation was recognised last year with an invitation to an evening celebration of Shakespeare, hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.
The theatre company has been in consultation with the National Trust since 2019 to develop a natural amphitheatre on the island.
In a statement, the theatre company said: “Those of us at BOAT who are aware of the details of this process are saddened that the National Trust has placed us in a situation whereby removing ourselves from the Island is the only practicable outcome made available to us.
“We still support the Island’s Amphitheatre Project, and hope that if it comes to fruition we will still be in a position to be part of its success.
“We would like to thank the National Trust for the support we have had up to this point and for the years we have enjoyed on the island on behalf of ourselves, our patrons and our supporters.
“As a body the trustees are fully committed to finding an alternative home on the mainland so that BOAT can continue to flourish and nurture the local theatre scene.
“We would like to offer our deeply felt thanks and gratitude to all those supporters who have been involved in the productions we have made over the years. Without you we would not have been able to make great theatre and support the National Trust.
“We cannot ever properly or fully express our deep-seated gratitude to all of our patrons who have come to see us since our infancy 6 decades ago. You have been all that a theatre company could possibly want or be lucky enough to have.”
The full BOAT statement can be seen here.
Picture: Brownsea Open Air Theatre.
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