Handlebards return to Newark Castle on Saturday (May 18) - Everything you need to know

Cycling Shakespearian comedy actors the Handlebards make a return trip to Newark Castle tomorrow when their all-female troupe offer their knockabout version of The Tempest.

Company members take on multiple characters in a riotous, bicycle-powered production that claims to be filled with magic, musicality and mystery.

Doors open at 5.30pm for the 6.30pm performance. The audience is encouraged to go early and take a picnic, chairs and/or a blanket to make themselves comfortable and make the most of the spectacular surroundings.

The action begins when a shipwreck sees the court of Milan wash up on a mysterious desert island inhabited by magicians, sprites and monsters, where nothing is as it seems…

The HandleBards began touring six years ago as the world’s first bicycle-powered theatre company, armed only with a sense of adventure, a love of Shakespeare, a nifty pun, bikes and tents.

They have grown to become an internationally-renowned theatre company whose male and female touring troupes deliver their irreverent brand of Shakespeare to audiences at home and abroad.

Their shows have enjoyed audience appreciation and critical acclaim from national and local newspapers and were summed up by the actors’ trade paper The Stage as “gloriously eccentric and very, very funny.” And they really do pedal from venue to venue with all the set props and costumes needed for their performances.

Tickets cost £16 (plus £1 booking fee) in advance or £18 on the day and are available online at https://www.handlebards.com/tickets/the-tempest-newark-castle/

In case of wet weather, the Handlebards ask audiences to take along raincoats rather than umbrellas, which obscure the view.

And if you can’t make it to the Newark performance, the Handlebards bring their Tempest to Southwell Minster on Saturday July 27.