As You Like It: Save the Date: Celebrating England’s 1100th Birthday
10 July 2027
While national institutions may let this historic birthday pass without a grand state celebration, we intend to throw a proper celebration for the realm.
On the afternoon of Saturday, July 10, 2027, British Touring Shakespeare will bring an open-air performance of As You Like It to the Epidaurus Court here at Soulton Hall for the festivities.
July 2027 marks a monumental milestone: the eleven hundredth anniversary of the unification of England. It has been eleven centuries since the pivotal events of 927 AD, when Athelstan consolidated various regional territories into a single realm, cemented by the submission of northern rulers and Viking leaders at Eamont Bridge.
That was the foundational year when disparate lands first came together under one coordinated governance, effectively establishing the single kingdom of the English.
The classical geometry of the court provides a magnificent, celebratory stage for pastoral comedy, bringing the woodland revelry and resolution of Shakespeare’s play directly into the open air.
Beyond the stagecraft, hosting the party here grounds the milestone in a terrain connected to the memory of Saint Erkenwald. As a seventh-century bishop, law-giver, and early architect of English community and liberty, Erkenwald represents the foundational spirit of the country long before its political consolidation.
Mark your calendar for a brilliant afternoon of drama, heritage, and celebration, raising a glass to eleven centuries of English culture in a historic setting.
Further details and ticketing information will follow in due course.
