An actor from the first Downton abbey film is bringing his theatre group’s Shakespeare play to sports clubs across the Southeast.

Max Hutchinson, who played a royal footman in the first Downton Abbey film, is bringing his theatre group, Scoot Theatre, to Bicester and North Oxford Cricket Club on Wednesday July 20.

The group will be performing their hour-long, family-friendly production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at both 2pm and 6pm.

Mr. Hutchinson, originally from Abingdon, formed Scoot in 2020 as a way of bringing the local community back together again after months of lockdown.

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Scoot’s first production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2020 saw performances from a cast of West End actors, and drew in more than 2,500 people.

The current tour runs from 16-31 July and covers 12 cricket clubs across the country.

With a cast of six West End and Royal Shakespeare Company performers.

For the Oxfordshire leg of the tour, Scoot are working in association with Banbury Mill Arts Centre.

Mr Hutchinson said: “I was cycling past a cricket club with my little boy one day in summer 2020 and it struck me as a fantastic venue to host some outdoor theatre.

“Cricket clubs are such social places and of course they’d missed out on events all summer because of Covid.

“I wanted to put on an event that would bring the local community back together again.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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