Cycling Shakespeare heads to Furzey Gardens

April 2019

A theatre production with a difference is coming to the New Forest this month.

Cycling theatre company The HandleBards will be performing at Furzey Gardens near Lyndhurst on 25 May with their unique version of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

The quirky thespians carry all of their set props and costumes on the back of their bicycles and perform charmingly eccentric plays at outdoor venues all across the UK.

The HandleBards began life in 2013 as a group of entrepreneurial friends with a shared passion for sustainability and travelling theatre. Since then they have cycled over 8,200 miles across the whole of the UK, performing to over 70,000 people in castles, gardens and museums.

Furzey Gardens is nestled in the New Forest and will be an enchanting venue for a summer’s evening of hilarious outdoor theatre. The licensed tea rooms will be open before the play and during the interval, when guests will be able to stroll among the garden’s famous rhododendrons and azaleas.

Furzey Gardens is part of Minstead Trust, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities to live more independent and fulfilled lives. All profits from the performance will help the Trust to continue its work.

Emma Golby-Kirk, events organiser at Furzey Gardens, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome The HandleBards to Furzey Gardens for the first time. We are sure audiences will love their joyfully creative adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic comedy.’

Tom Dixon, producer and co-founder of The HandleBards, said: ‘We are thrilled to be visiting Furzey Gardens this May to perform our unique pedal-powered theatre. Performing on a summer’s evening at this charming, secret garden in the New Forest will be a real treat.’

Doors open at 5.30pm with the show beginning at 6.30pm. Adult tickets are £18, under 18s are £10 and under 10s are free. Tickets can be bought from www.handlebards.com/tickets