FRONT Room Productions are to present a new promenade adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol at the John Cooper Studio, 41 Monkgate, York, in December as part of a four-week tour of northern venues.

Watch this space for more details of this winter's visit by a Leeds company that favours creating intimate and innovative theatre in alternative locations.

In the meantime, artistic director Olivia Race is to stage an outdoor promenade version of Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night at the new open-air arts venue of Dunstarn Farm, in Dunstarn Lane, Adel, Leeds, from August 24 to 27. "Our bite-sized adaptation will use the original Shakespearean script, but transport the setting to a modern-day Yorkshire farm and we'll feature live musical numbers," she says.

This "abridged and approachable" production combines the fun farmyard setting with modern dress and original musical arrangements of familiar pop hits and is designed to please both Shakespearean purists and newcomers alike, in the vein of Amy Leach's all-action staging of Romeo And Juliet at the West Yorkshire Playhouse earlier this year.

"Our show leads audiences around its rural setting, taking innovative inspiration from its location," says Olivia. "Viola and Sebastian are framed as city-slicker siblings; Orsino as a local farming tycoon; Olivia, an ill-suited country girl, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a try-hard hipster.

"We unearth the modern-day idiosyncrasies in Shakespeare’s language, creating a contemporary yet faithful production intended to make the Bard’s brilliance accessible to modern-day audiences."

What happens in Twelfth Night, Olivia? "City-slicker siblings Viola and Sebastian have been stranded on the strange and foreign shores of Illyria: home to farmers, country folk and a great deal of sheep," she says.

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"You’d think locals Olivia and Orsino might help them out, but they have problems of their own. Viola, desperately seeking Sebastian, soon becomes embroiled in a series of complicated love-triangles and ludicrous misunderstandings, fit to rival even the most baffling of modern day rom-coms. As emotions run high in a flourish of cross-dressing capers and musical madness, will Viola ever find her brother?"

Summing up her company's theatre practice, Olivia says: "Front Room Productions exists to create theatre in unconventional spaces, staging high-quality, intimate theatre where you least expect to find it. We first made an impression on Leeds with our acclaimed adaptation of Oliver Twist, staged in Kirkgate Market, which transported audiences to Dickens’s London via the Victorian aesthetic of the space.

"More recently, we staged a series of Pop-Up Shakespeare performances as part of Love Your Local Market Week, entertaining shoppers with Shakespeare’s most famous scenes on demand. The company is immensely proud to have roots in West Yorkshire and endeavours to stage productions that showcase and celebrate the wealth of talented performers working across the region."

Twelfth Night will be performed on various sites around Dunstarn Farm. "Audience members will need to walk from site to site, so sturdy footwear is advised," says Olivia. "You are encouraged to arrive early and relax with a picnic and drink before the performance starts.

"Doors open at 1pm for performances at 2.30pm on the Saturday and Sunday and at 5.30pm for performances at 7pm each night and there'll be a bar serving soft and alcoholic drinks at the venue. Once you have booked your ticket, further information will be sent via email in advance of the performances."

Tickets for the August 24 to 27 run cost £12, concessions £10, at frontroomproductions.co.uk. Parking will be available on site.