CHAPTERHOUSE Theatre Company is performing Romeo And Juliet in Clifford's Tower, York, tomorrow.

Correction, the Lincoln company is staging Shakespeare's tragic tale of star cross'd lovers on the grass of the Eye Of York outside Clifford's Tower - by contrast with this summer's productions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Terry Pratchett's Eric inside the tower.

Director Richard Main explains his thinking. "With it being only one performance, we wanted to make sure we could get the numbers in, because we've been playing to up to 700 people a night at some venues.

"We've set the capacity at 700; it's a bring-chairs-and-picnic show, and the weathermen say it's going to be hot, so you had better bring hats!"

Romeo And Juliet will be performed on a mobile stage, in the tradition of the touring shows of Elizabethan times. "We'll have Clifford's Tower as a backdrop, and the set will have a balcony... Romeo And Juliet has to have a balcony!" says Richard.

Where many touring summer shows employ small casts with multiple role playing, Chapterhouse uses a cast of 15 actors, performing sword fights and all on simple pop-up picture-book sets in Elizabethan costumes, complemented by original live music composed by Richard himself.

"There's some limited doubling up of roles, but using a big cast is one of the things that separates us from a lot of touring shows, and it gives people the chance to see how it was done in Shakespeare's days, even when on tour," says Richard.

Chapterhouse is touring two productions concurrently, Romeo And Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing, undertaking 101 performance through the summer months at castles and country houses from Cornwall to Scotland. "The actors join us in May, rehearsing the two plays at Lincoln Castle, which is very nice for us," says Richard.

This autumn, for the first time in its five-year history, the company will be moving indoors to perform in theatres. The tour will visit the Grand Opera House, York, with A Midsummer Night's Dream on November 17 and 18 and two performances of Hamlet on November 19.

After past Yorkshire shows by Chapterhouse at Castle Howard, Helmsley and Harewood House, Richard is delighted to be reacquainting himself with York. "I got signed up there by Red Rhino Records in the 1980s when I was in a band called 4 Million Telephones," he says, recalling the days when the York record label released his single French Girls and album The Most Careful.

Now, inspired by two audience members requesting a tape of Chapterhouse music to play at their wedding last summer, Richard has returned to the recording studio, this time in Lincoln, to produce a CD of music from all Chapterhouse shows. The Midsummer And Winter album of music by Main and Bryan Nevin is available at shows, and £2 from each £10 sale will be donated to Children In Need.

Chapterhouse Theatre Company presents Romeo And Juliet, Clifford's Tower, Eye Of York, York, tomorrow at 7.30pm. Grounds open at 6.30pm for picnics; please bring rugs or low-backed seating. Tickets: adults £10, concessions £8, children £6, English Heritage members £1 off; ring 01904 671818 (Grand Opera House), 01904 646940 (Clifford's Tower) or 01904 6217569 (York Tourist Information Centre), or pay on the door.

Updated: 09:53 Friday, August 08, 2003