THE award-winning Soham Viva Theatre Company has teamed up with prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company to stage a performance of Much Ado About Nothing in the magnificent grounds of Anglesey Abbey next month.

The outdoor show - running from Thursday July 12 to Saturday 14th July - is very much a community affair, bringing together actors and crew members from amateur groups across the county and surrounds including Soham , Ely, Burwell, Bottisham, Newmarket, St. Neots, and Cambridge.

The play involves a wide-ranging cast from young children to adults as well as people with disabilities, and will be set in the year of 1919, just after the First World War.

Producer Sarah Dowd Crosby said: “This performance will be the pinnacle of Viva Theatre Company’s work thus far and to mark the occasion, we have challenged ourselves to update one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies and set it in post-First World War Britain instead of Renaissance Italy.

“Our version is played out against the backdrop of the Suffragette Movement, the return of troops from the front and the dawning of the Jazz Age – a time of significant change in our history. This setting brings even more vibrancy to the production and also tips a wink at the recent popularity of Downton Abbey.”

Performances begin at 6:30pm and will finish around 9pm and tickets - �12 for adults and �8 for children (Thursdays only); �14 for adults, �10 for children or �46 for a family (maximum of three children) - are available on 0844 249 1895.

* Tickets are also on sale for Viva‘s production of ‘Fame the Musical’ on Wednesday 11th to Friday 13th July from 7:30pm at The Brook, Soham. They cost �10 full price and �8 concessions. Call the Box Office on 01353 722228. The cast are heading off to New York with this production in late July so please come and show your support.