Thousands try out for Shakespeare Festival

More than 5,000 actors turn out for auditions in London.

This year's Shakespeare production at the Gatehouse is set to break records after it was reported that over 5,000 actors turned up for auditions in London last week.

The producers are auditioning for 14 roles in this year's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, but after the parts were advertised in theatre press and stage directories, actors flocked to the try outs to star in the annual Stafford Festival stage performance.

There is already a full professional cast of 17, with three of the roles already allocated to Australian actor Jonathan Hyde, who has appeared in Titanic and Jumanji, and will play Nick Bottom. Also, Broadway star Kerry Ellis, who had performed in Wicked and Les Miserables will play Titania, and Milly Zero, who has appeared in All at Sea and EastEnders, who will play Hermia.

This year's Shakespeare Production at the Gatehouse will be produced by Mike Groves, and he told the Express and Star, 

"We were expecting around 1,500 applications for roles in the Stafford Shakespeare production, but we ended up with 5,132.

The response was incredible and it just goes to show how highly regarded these plays are on a national level."

More than 2,000 tickets have already been sold and the producers have also announced a spin-off production called The Fairy Academy for younger theatre-goers.

Aa Midsummer Night's Dream runs which runs from June 23 - Jul 9 at the Stafford Gatehouse Theatre.

Photo: Producer, Mike Groves - Courtesy of the Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford