Shakespeare By The Sea

Shakespeare By The Sea returns to the Weymouth Pavilion on Wednesday 10 February 2027, starting at 6:30pm. It's the sixth year of the South Dorset Shakespeare by the Sea Festival, which brings together local schools to stage abridged versions of some of William Shakespeare's best-loved plays on the Pavilion stage. The pupils reimagine the Bard's work for today, and the result is a celebration of young people's creativity, collaboration and performance skills.

This year's performances come from pupils at St John's CE Primary School in Weymouth, The Prince of Wales School in Dorchester and Southill Primary School in Weymouth. Each school takes on its own abridged version of a Shakespeare play, so you get a few different takes on the classics in one evening rather than just one long production. It's a good way to see how different groups approach the same material, and it's all on the same stage.

The festival has been running for six years now, so it's a bit of a local fixture. The whole point is to get kids from across the area working with Shakespeare and performing it in front of a live audience, and the abridged format means the plays are trimmed down to their core, making them easier to follow if you're not already well-versed in the originals. It's a night built around the schools and the pupils taking the lead.

Tickets are £2.50, and the show runs in the Main Auditorium. If you're coming from a bit further afield or just fancy a meal before the curtain goes up, pre-show meals are served in the Piano Bar from 5pm, so you can eat and settle in before the 6:30pm start.