The Bard’s back at Mannville

Whether there was to be or not to be another Shakespearean production at the Mannville Open Air Theatre in Port Elizabeth’s St George’s Park was no longer in question this week, following the announcement of the first play to be staged there in four years.

Having overcome a range of security concerns which had put a stop to a long tradition of productions at the Mannville Theatre, the Port Elizabeth Shakespearean Festival (PESF) will be relaunching the facility with a production of Twelfth Night to be staged on February 24.

Cable and lighting theft, along with general security concerns, had put an end to the popular annual Shakespearean productions which drew thousands of people.

With assistance from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality parks department – which has revamped the facility by constructing a new lighting box tower and sound box, established electrical connections and erected a new fence-wrap for additional security, among other renovations – the show can now go on.

-Shaun Gillham