AN award-winning Dales-based Shakespeare scheme is inviting people to join it for a town versus country clash in June.

Fourteen Lines is the latest phase in the Upper Wharfedale Arts and Literature Society (UWALS) Discover Shakespeare scheme, supported by an award from the Clapham-based Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

The scheme has its roots in project leader and Fourteen Lines scriptwriter Ron Norman’s participation in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2022 production of Henry VI: Rebellion in Stratford-upon-Avon, and is committed to making Shakespeare accessible to all through active participation.

Under Ron’s direction, the 20 presenters of Fourteen Lines work as a choreographed ensemble, reading, narrating, explaining and performing as they take their audience on an illustrated tour of Shakespeare's sonnets, an often-overlooked strand of his work.

They include locals of all ages, and some from further afield, and a few seasoned thespians alongside those entirely new to theatre – all united by a passion for bringing life to the work of the Bard.

Buoyed by the enthusiastic reception of Fourteen Lines, the group is now inviting more people to get involved in their next project - Country Matters, which will investigate how Shakespeare’s plays explore the contrasts and tensions between the countryside and the culture of the city or the court.

Ron, a former English and drama teacher, said: "Perhaps it’s not surprising that someone who moved between rural Warwickshire and the heart of Elizabethan London should reflect these very different worlds in his work.

"But I think people coming to Shakespeare with fresh eyes will be amazed by the local and contemporary relevance of some of the issues that emerge from plays like As You Like It, The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream - questions of land ownership and the environment, conflicts between locals and ‘offcumdens', contrasts between rural poverty and privilege, city vs countryside culture wars, even climate change."

The project begins with a full day’s practical voice, text and language workshop, developing a range of engaging approaches to Shakespeare’s language and moving his scripts ‘from page to stage’ with a focus on some short scenes from these plays.

It will take place on Saturday, June 29 at Kettlewell Village Hall, from 10am until 4pm (£5 per person) Find out more by email to: uwalsociety@gmail.com . Absolutely no previous experience or knowledge assumed.