HandleBards bring Shakespeare’s As You Like It back to its Shropshire roots
Bicycle-powered theatre company brings Shakespeare to Shropshire landscape
A bicycle-powered theatre company has brought Shakespeare’s As You Like It to a landscape closely linked with the origins of the story, with a special performance at Hawkstone Follies.
The HandleBards welcomed around 100 people to the historic site on Thursday, July 16, for a lively outdoor production staged in the Grand Valley and surrounded by the distinctive caves of the Follies.
The performance was the second in a trio of 2026 “homecoming” productions, each aiming to connect the play with the landscape and history that helped inspire its themes.
The company, which travels entirely by bicycle, embraced the natural surroundings, using the “abandon’d” caves as a dramatic backdrop for the tale - a fitting echo of the scene where Oliver leads his injured brother Orlando to the cave of the “gentle duke”.
The connection between As You Like It and the area has long been explored through links to Thomas Lodge’s Rosalynde, the prose work believed to have influenced Shakespeare’s play. Lodge’s family history is closely connected with Hawkstone and Soulton, while the later ownership of the land by Sir Rowland Hill adds another layer to the story of changing fortunes and inheritance reflected in the play.
Performing beneath the statue of Sir Rowland Hill helped bring those historical links to life, grounding Shakespeare’s words in the Shropshire landscape.
The performance came as Shropshire Council formally recognised the connection between North Shropshire, Lodge’s work and the legacy of the Hill family, while an Early Day Motion in Parliament has also highlighted the area’s literary heritage.
Earlier this year, Shropshire Youth Theatre staged the first of the three linked performances at nearby Soulton Hall. The final event in the series will take place on September 30, when all-female ensemble The Whole Pack brings its production to Soulton Hall.
A new souvenir guidebook has also been produced by Hawkstone Follies in collaboration with Soulton Hall, exploring the area’s literary connections and helping visitors discover the story behind the landscape.