Open Air History

As You Like It at Reading Abbey Ruins, 2001

Progress Theatre have been presenting an open-air event in Reading since 1994. Staged in the Ruins of Reading Abbey, it quickly became a cultural highlight in the Thames Valley region, with around 4,000 people attending in later years. Until 2017, all these productions have been plays by Shakespeare. You can see a list of the plays performed in the open air at the end of this page.

Mounting such an event requires the efforts of a large team of people. Open Air productions contain little pre-existing equipment: everything from the seating to electrical cabling to the front of house tents and stage has to be ordered and installed on site. Preparations start a year in advance and, from January, the production team must work flat out to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

The Progress production team are all volunteers and none are paid for their time; each person becomes involved because they enjoy the challenges involved in producing the festival, or in producing theatre in general.

If this sounds like you, contact us about how you can get involved now and in future years in our open air productions.

Previous Open Air Productions

At Reading Abbey Ruins (since 2018)

At Caversham Court Gardens (2011-2017)

The Wind in the Willows (2017)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (2015)
Love's Labour's Lost... And Won (2014)
Macbeth (2013)
Henry IV Part One (2012)
The Tempest (2011)

At Reading Abbey Ruins (1994-2008)

The Taming of the Shrew (2008)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007)
The Winter's Tale (2006)
Romeo and Juliet (2005)
The Comedy of Errors (at South Hill Park) (2004)
The Merchant of Venice (2003)
Julius Cæsar (2002)
As You Like It (2001)
Twelfth Night (2000)
Richard III (1999)
Much Ado About Nothing (1998)
King Lear (1997)
Macbeth (1996)
Henry V (1994)