Shakespeare Comes to Bear & Ragged Staff

As part of the efforts of the new management of the Bear and Ragged Staff to place itself firmly back at the centre of village cultural and social life, on Saturday 6th of February, for possibly the first time, a performance of Shakespeare’s hilarious “Two Gentlemen of Verona” will be staged right here in Cumnor in the Banquet room at the rear of the restaurant.

How is this possible you may ask? Well, it is possible because both the actors, Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu, both from Zimbabwe, play ALL, yes, ALL fifteen parts! Shakespeare purists may not necessarily agree with all the twists in this slightly Africanised version of this famous play, but the performance (in English of course) has been getting excellent reviews as it makes its way around the country.

The show was originally staged at the Oval Theatre in London and was produced by Arne Pohlmeier, who happens to a friend of the Bear’s Landlord, Mark Greenwood. After a bit of arm twisting over lunch and a few drinks at the Bear, Arne agreed to bring his troupe out to Oxford. As Mark says “I went to see a performance of Two Gentlemen at the Oval, loved it, and immediately thought to myself afterwards that we could bring this out to Cumnor. I am so happy the Arne has helped to make this possible”.

Tickets have been priced at £10.00 each. The performance will take place at 5.30p.m. Dinner will be available afterwards. For theatre bookings and restaurant bookings afterwards please call the Bear at 01865 862 329.