Hello and welcome to the first Stafford Festival Shakespeare blog! As this year marks the eighteenth anniversary for the Open Air event we thought it would be a great time to launch the Stafford Festival Shakespeare blog to give you regular updates from Hamlet production preparations before the opening night on Thursday 26 June through to show successes as we approach the final curtain call on Saturday 12 July.

Simply click on the links in the navigation bar above to find out more. The Blog Page gives regular updates on the latest posts, fortnightly competition questions to win a pair of Hamlet tickets, and the weekly weather forecast; in Cast you will find out about the local actor auditions, cast announcements, and social events; Behind the Scenes will keep you up to date on set construction and the production team who ‘make it happen’ including the director, producer and technical staff; Out and About provides dates for your Shakespeare diary including The County Show and Open Doors Exhibition; Backstage Gossip is a light-hearted section with spooky castle stories, and video tours of the rehearsal rooms, the site and backstage.

So now you can get cast announcements, find out about set construction, local marketing events, get backstage gossip and win a pair of Hamlet tickets in our fortnightly competition all from the comfort of your own home via the Stafford Festival Shakespeare website!

Justine and Hannah – Stafford Festival Shakespeare Marketing