Uni students to perform Shakespeare’s Edward III at Lancaster Castle

An opportunity to find out will come when Lancaster University students stage a performance at Lancaster Castle next month.

‘The Raigne of King Edward the Third’, commonly shortened to ‘Edward III’, was printed anonymously in 1596, and reprinted in 1599, the same year as Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’, with which it has strong similarities.

Like some other co-authored plays, it was not included in the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays (1623), but it began to be included in publications of the complete works of Shakespeare in the nineteenth century and then again in the late 1990s.

Every summer Lancaster University’s flagship undergraduate Shakespeare course, in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing, culminates in a full-scale production at Lancaster Castle.

In this year’s production of ‘Edward III’, Shakespeare students work alongside a professional director and actors as performers, assistant directors, designers of costumes and props, and marketing.

Course leader and chair of the British Shakespeare Association Prof Alison Findlay said: “Performing ‘Edward III’ in Lancaster Castle will allow us to test out the script, and the claims of authorship, in a venue that has its own historical links to King Edward III and his son John of Gaunt.

“Like Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’, the play dramatises England's invasion of France, which we will stage with full historic costumes and military pageantry.

“We take full advantage of Lancaster Castle’s walled historic courtyard and ‘A Wing’ to bring the story to life.

Performances will take place at 7pm from June 1 to 3.

Access will be through the main John of Gaunt gate from 6.45pm and seating is provided. To book, scan the code on flyers or posters or go online at https://online-payments.lancaster-university.co.uk/product-catalogue/events/arts-and-social-science-fass/english-literature-and-creative-writing/edward-iii-by-shakespeare-at-lancaster-castle