By Grace Hatchell – The course of true love never did run smooth… I’ve seen the letters
Guildford Shakespeare Company marks its 20th anniversary with a special open-air season of Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing, performed as one sweeping story across two summers.
Ey up, you lot… and would you believe it, this little delivery has landed on the very day we’re all supposed to be raising a glass (or at least a cuppa) to Mr William Shakespeare himself. Happy birthday, you old romantic. And honestly, I reckon he’d be rather chuffed with what I’ve just pulled out of my satchel.
Because over in Guildford, they’re not just dusting off a bit of Shakespeare… they’re properly celebrating him. And in a way that feels a bit special, if you ask me.
Guildford Shakespeare Company are marking their 20th anniversary this year, and instead of doing something small and polite, they’ve gone all in. We’re talking a full open-air summer season at Braboeuf Manor, running from 1st to 25th July, with two of his most loved comedies — Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing — brought together as one big, sweeping story.
Now here’s the bit that made me pause mid-delivery and go, “ooh, hang on a minute…” They’re not just performing these plays separately. Oh no. They’ve stitched them together so they unfold across two different summers — 1939 and 1945 — meaning you get to follow the same characters as time moves on. Love found, love lost… and maybe, just maybe, love found again if you stick with it long enough.
And there’s a bit of theatre folklore tucked in there too. There’s long been chatter that Much Ado About Nothing might actually be Shakespeare’s mysterious “lost sequel” to Love’s Labour’s Lost — a cheeky little Love’s Labour’s Won, if you will. So this whole idea of linking them together? It’s not just clever… it’s got a bit of history behind it as well.
The whole thing is directed by Tom Littler — and I’ll tell you now, he knows his way around a Shakespeare or two. He’s worked with both companies before, and here he’s bringing Guildford Shakespeare Company together with Orange Tree Theatre, which, by the way, was named Theatre of the Year in 2025. Not bad company to keep, is it?
And the cast… oh, they’ve not held back there either. You’ve got Phoebe Pryce and James Sheldon taking on the likes of Beatrice, Benedick, Rosaline and Berowne — which, if you know your Shakespeare, you’ll know means wit, banter, and probably a fair bit of bickering that turns into something else entirely. There’s also Joëlle Brabban, Sally Cheng, Jeremy Lloyd, Chirag Benedict Lobo and Owen Oakeshott, all stepping into multiple roles across the two plays, which I always think adds a bit of magic when you’re watching characters evolve.
What I really like, though, is that it’s all being done with one ensemble cast. So you’re not just watching two separate shows — you’re watching people grow, change, and carry their stories forward. It makes it feel less like a pair of plays and more like one long, summery love story.
And the setting… well, you can’t really argue with a 16th-century manor, can you? Braboeuf Manor sounds like one of those places where you’d happily sit with a picnic, a glass of something cold, and just let the evening unfold in front of you. That proper “this is what summer’s meant to feel like” sort of theatre.
It’s also a bit of a full-circle moment for the company. Much Ado About Nothing was actually the very first show they ever did back in 2006, so bringing it back now, in their 20th year, feels like a nod to where it all began. And I do love a bit of theatre sentiment like that — it’s got heart.
After Guildford, the whole production heads over to London for Orange Tree’s On the Hill run at Thomas’s College from 31st July to 22nd August, so it’s not just a one-stop affair either.
But today of all days, it feels quite fitting, doesn’t it? Shakespeare’s birthday, a pair of his most joyful comedies, and a company celebrating twenty years of bringing stories to life in unusual spaces. I can just picture him somewhere, quill in hand, raising an eyebrow and thinking, “well, that’s not a bad way to keep me busy.”
So if you fancy a bit of romance, a bit of wit, and a summer evening that feels like it belongs in a postcard, this one might just be worth wandering into.
And from me? Just a humble postwoman, making sure the good stuff gets delivered.
1st July – 25th July 2026
Love’s Labour’s Lost & Much Ado About Nothing
Braboeuf Manor, Portsmouth Road, Guildford GU3 1HA
https://www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/loves
labours-2026/
https://www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/much-ado
2026/
31st July – 22nd August 2026 Thomas’s College, Queen’s Rd, Richmond TW10 6JW
https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/loves-labours-lost/
https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/much-ado-about
nothing/
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