The play’s the thing

Agecroft Hall provides the perfect backdrop for touring troupe’s summer productions, while the performances, in turn, help bring a new life to the estate by bringing in a different audience.

By Jaclyn O’Laughlin and Ben Sellers

For Grant Mudge, the artistic director of Richmond Shakespeare, there’s something special about seeing the bard performed at Agecroft Hall.

“It’s hard to beat that building as a backdrop, playing in the courtyard of a 500-year-old building behind you that stood in England during Shakespeare’s lifetime, to which he could have traveled,” said Mudge.

A win-win situation

The historic estate has been home to Richmond Shakespeare’s summer festival for the past 11 years, said Agecroft Hall Executive Director Richard Moxley. The 2009 summer season, which featured productions of “Henry V” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will wrap up its third and final production, “Hamlet,” on Aug. 2. 

“Doing something as taxing as ‘Hamlet, you’ve really gotta flex all your muscles,” said actor Jeff Rey, who plays the title character in the production. “… It’s been really cool to be able to reference a house that’s so old—it helps give a sense of community with the text and with the play as a whole,” he said.

The festival also brings something unique to Agecroft Hall, said John Bilhartz, a tour guide and weekend manager. “It attracts a different crowd—usually younger,” he said. It’s one of the only times the stage is put up in the estate’s courtyard and picnics are allowed on the lawn outside. “It makes a good date night,” Bilhartz said.

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Weathering the seasons

Richmond Shakespeare, a 25-year-old nonprofit organization, has toured in 23 states and performed for more than 100,000 people, said Mudge. In addition to the summer festival, it also holds an indoor series in the offseason. The indoor series, which has been held in a church in the past, will join eight other Richmond performance groups a new location, Richmond CenterStage, this fall. A grand opening set for Sept. 12 will feature performances by all of the groups.

But audiences can still look forward to the company’s return next summer to Agecroft Hall. For Mudge and many others, there’s something special about seeing the plays performed outdoors, the way Shakespeare intended them to be seen at London’s open-air Globe Theatre.  

“While we’re out there, we notice all of the weather references in all of the plays … and of course, the joke we always tell the audience is we’ll play in sprinkles and in light rain, because, of course, it never rains in England,” Mudge said.

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View a slideshow of Agecroft Hall, which is a historic landmark in Richmond. The building was originially constructed in the 1400s in England.

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