East London Shakespeare Festival Will Tour A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Across 23 Parks

East London Shakespeare Festival will return for summer 2026 with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, touring to 23 parks and open spaces to entertain family audiences across east London and Kent from Friday 5 June – Sunday 23 August 2026.

Bursting with mischief, chaos, romance and magic, this joyful, family-friendly outdoor production reimagines Shakespeare’s hilarious comedy with a chaotic splash of contemporary flair. Escape into the enchanted forest alongside Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius as they get more than they bargained for when a vibrant cast of magical woodland fairies take matters into their own hands.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is ELSF’s sixth major tour, following last year’s As You Like It, 2024’s Much Ado About Nothing and the company’s Offie Award-nominated A Midsummer Night’s Dreamand Romeo & Juliet.

ELSF was founded by Waltham Forest-based theatre directors, producers and actors Ursula Early and Rosie Ward in 2020. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the company’s biggest tour to date, with 23 venues in east London and further afield, including an expansion into Kent. An extensive community engagement programme will run alongside the tour, with lots of opportunities to get involved. 

With ELSF’s signature high-energy numbers, slapstick comedy, and audience participation, this is Shakespeare for everyone. 

Ursula Early, Co-Artistic Director of ELSF and Associate Director of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, said: “I’m so excited to be bringing A Midsummer Night’s Dream back this summer, you can’t beat it. It’s wild, messy, romantic and completely bonkers - right up our street! The tour is bigger than ever, heading to all our favourite London venues and popping up in some brilliant new ones - Brockwell Park, Downhills Park and Priory Park. And, for the first time, we’re heading into Kent - Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Birchington. I’ve recently moved to Ramsgate, so it feels really special on a personal level - a chance for me and my family to connect with the local community, while building on everything we’ve been doing in east London.” 

She added: “Our version has all the best bits of A Midsummer Night’s Dream - magic, comedy, love - but it’s also a bit grubby, feral and modern. Our band of fairies are park foragers, creating their own magical world out of twigs, scraps, bits of rubbish. As always, we’ll be out there this summer sharing the joy with everyone.” 

Rosie Frecker, Director of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, said: “As a long-time fan of the East London Shakespeare Festival, I’m so thrilled to have been asked to direct A Midsummer Night’s Dream this summer. This play is funny, bombastic and has some of the best poetry Shakespeare has to offer, so it has been an absolute joy and a privilege. Speaking as a true creature of east London myself, born and bred in Walthamstow and Wanstead, it has been so wonderful to stage this production in some of the most beautiful parts of my home town. I have always loved how ELSF has embraced theatre that celebrates the east London community spirit, and our production is truly a celebration of that: urban, bright, magical and born of Epping Forest!” 

Tour Dates

• 05–06 Jun: Higham Hill Hub, Walthamstow 

• 07 Jun: Highams Park 

• 11–12 Jun: Hoxton Community Gardens 

• 13 Jun: Wanstead Park  

• 14 Jun: Leyton Jubilee Park 

• 18–21 Jun: Lloyd Park, Walthamstow 

• 25–26 Jun: Central Park, East Ham  

• 27 Jun: Priory Park, Haringey 

• 28 Jun: Downhills Park  

• 03 Jul: Springfield Park 

• 04–05 Jul: Royal Observatory Greenwich  

• 09 Jul: Gunnersbury Park, Ealing 

• 10 Jul: Valentines Park, Ilford  

• 11 Jul: Crystal Palace Park  

• 12 Jul: Brockwell Park 

• 15–16 Jul: Lauderdale House, Highgate  

• 17–19 Jul: Clissold Park, Stoke Newington 

• 31 Jul: Broadstairs Bandstand  

• 01 Aug: Ellington Park, Thanet, Kent  

• 02 Aug:  Quex House & Gardens, Birchington-on-sea, Kent 

• 21 Aug: Langthorne Amphitheatre, Leytonstone 

• 22 Aug: Oval Bandstand and Lawns, Margate, Kent  

• 23 Aug: Big Penny Social, Walthamstow 

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