RAIN stopped play on the first night of Re:verse Theatre's open-air production of Volpone at the Rowntree Park amphitheatre in York, when Monday's torrential downpour threatened the wellbeing of the all-important masks.

Tuesday's performance went ahead amid the unexpected evening sunshine – as did Mikron Theatre's outdoor performance of In At The Deep End at the Scarcroft Allotments incidentally – but the threatened return of rain has driven Re:Verse indoors for the rest of the run, rather than risking papier-mache masks turning into mush.

York Press:

David Phillipps as Mosca, the Fly, in Re:Verse Theatre's Volpone. Picture: Daniel Cashdan

"Rowntree Park was magical on Tuesday: beautiful venue, when the weather cooperates!" says director-designer Ben Prusiner. "But we'll now be performing the rest of the run at Southlands Methodist Church on Bishopthorpe Road, and we've cancelled the Saturday matinee, so the remaining performances will be at Southlands tonight at 7pm, on Saturday at 7pm and on Sunday at 3pm and 7pm."

Presented in the style of a Venetian carnival, Ben Jonson's boisterous satire is an animal fable for grown-ups, for which Prusiner and costume designer Laura Elizabeth Rice have created masks in papier mache, wire and plastic, not least for a two-headed Judge, four feet wide in the style of a political effigy in a parade.

York Press:

"Why must it always rain on outdoor shows in York?" Anna-Rose James seems to be saying. Anna is pictured playing Celia, with Paul French's  Volpone and musicians Fizz Margereson and William Barnardo, at the Rowntree Park amphitheatre. Picture: Daniel Cashdan

"The masks are waterproof and can withstand light rain without any issues, but Monday night's rain was much too heavy!" says Prusiner, whose production forms part of the 2017 York International Shakespeare Festival.

The weather forecast predicts more rain for tonight and for the weekend, hence the switch to Southlands Methodist Church. "The show won't now have the same visual effect but at least audiences can still see and hear the performances," says Prusiner.

Tickets are free, although a suggested donation of £10 can be given at the door and reservations can be made at volpone-or-out-foxed.eventbrite.co.uk.