Tuesday evening saw Anna and I heading up to Lancaster for the Dukes Promenade theatre production of Jason and the Argonauts in Williamson Park. The volatile British weather had turned from midsummer heat wave the week before to torrential down pours but that didn’t stop us theatre goers donning our cagoules and heading to the park for an evening of outdoor theatre.
Thankfully the rain didn’t interrupt the production and it stayed dry for the majority of the evening, allowing the audience to unwrap and enjoy their evening picnics and bottles of wine. Despite the fact that neither Anna nor I had packed a picnic or brought a chair, we had the most magical and entertaining of evenings as we moved through the park from scene to scene.
We Argonauts (the audience) joined Jason on his quest to find the Golden Fleece as he defied the singing Sirens, defeated a monstrous bull, clashed with skeletons on horseback and finally defeated the dragon to retrieve the fleece. The stunning backdrops of Williamson Park took us from royal Grecian palaces to treacherous sea travel through clashing rocks and on to mount Olympus, home of the gods.
As darkness fell the final scene at the lake was lit by flaming torches floating in the water – it looked amazing. By the end we were applauding both the actors and the setting for such a wonderful evening. The Ashton memorial folly was a truly majestic back drop, providing a very suitable residence for Zeus and Hera, and was complimented by a stunning sunset over Morecambe Bay, which we were able to enjoy during the interval.
This was my first experience of the Dukes Promenade Theatre in Williamson Park but I shall definitely be back next year for Peter Pan (and this time I’ll remember to take a picnic!).
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