Live Outdoor Theatre in Didsbury this Summer: The Great Gatsby, Mr Stink & more

@heartbreakproductions / Instagram

With 2020 cancelled due to COVID, Heartbreak is staging the shows they planned for last year: The Great Gatsby, Wonder With Grimm, Mr Stink, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

They’ll be back in their usual spot at Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens in Didsbury throughout the summer, kicking things off with a twist on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales on Saturday 3rd July.

Wonder With Grimm promises audiences an enchanting evening full of magic, puppetry, music, and dance – with altered endings and a modern twist. To round off the evening, Heartbreak performs an original fairy tale penned by their Find Your Voice competition winner, Kasper, a Y4 student from Leamington Spa.

Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens / @richierichthirteen

Sunday 4th July will see open-air staple, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, weaves its usual way through tangled lovers, warring fairies, and hapless human beings… but as it’s a Heartbreak Productions adaptation, it is set in an environmental protest camp.

Heartbreak uses Shakespeare’s timeless imagery to emphasise the importance of the environment, and the costumes and sets are all made from recycled materials.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the roaring 20s, The Great Gatsby will be served up with a twist of iconic style on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August. Set at a garden party, this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic will take its audiences on a wild ride through Gatsby and Daisy’s romance.

@heartbreakproductions / Instagram

Finally, September 1st & 2nd will see David Walliams’ family-friendly best-seller, Mr Stink, return to Heartbreak’s summer catalogue for the first time since 2015.

10-year-old Chloe and the housing-challenged Mr Stink forge an extraordinary and rewarding friendship that takes them to the heady heights of live television and Downing Street via a garden shed. The programme will include the winning poem written on the theme of homelessness for Heartbreak’s 2020 Poetry Competition, and most venues will also be collecting for Shelter at the performances.

Maddy Kerr, Heartbreak’s Executive Director, says “We are delighted to be touring again this summer and hope we can continue to provide safe and exciting entertainment foraudiences as the restrictions gradually ease. Can’t wait to see people relaxing with a picnic and soaking up the sunshine (hopefully!) while enjoying some cracking theatre!”