Changeling Theatre has brought young talent from around the county to star in its annual tour, staging Love’s Labour’s Lost at venues across Kent this summer.

Shakespeare’s play about young love is one of his early comedies and is widely believed to be the prequel to Much Ado about Nothing, but the classic play is not the only offering this year, and Changeling will also be touring Richard Brinsley Sheridan’ satirical comedy School for Scandal.

Both plays feature a host of young Kentish actors from all over the county, with Annabelle Blake from West Malling returning for her third summer tour with Changeling to play Mrs Candour in School for Scandal and Katharine in Love’s Labour’s Lost.

New-to-Changeling actor Freya Stephenson from Chilham joins to play Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Lady Teazle in School for Scandal, while Deal resident Simon Yadoo will play Don Armardo in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Sir Peter Teazle in School for Scandal, and Sam Claridge from Canterbury will play Longaville and Sir Oliver Surface in in each of the respective plays.

This summer’s outdoor tour will also mark the return of Chatham’s Jonathan Cobb who, as a young fifteen-year-old, joined the company as a faery in their 2008 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Jonathan said: “Changeling is why I became an actor! Casting me in 2008 in A Midsummer Night’s Dream changed my life, and I have been acting ever since. Rob (artistic director Rob Forknall) persuaded me that I should consider a career in acting.”

And that he did, graduating from the Drama Studio in Ealing before being cast in West End productions including The Grinning Man, a world tour of Warhorse and most recently a UK tour of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Jonathan is delighted to be returning to Changeling to play Joseph Surface in School for Scandal and King Ferdinand in Love’s Labour’s Lost this summer.

Rob Forknall added: “As a Kent man myself, providing a springboard to local talent over the last 22 years is one of the greatest delights since I founded Changeling Theatre. I am hugely proud of each and every Changeling and watching their meteoric rise in the theatre world gives me great pleasure.”

2023 marks Changeling’s 22nd year of outdoor touring since the company first toured Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream back in 2001.

The company will perform both plays in a range of outdoor locations from Friday June 30 to Sunday August 20, in venues as diverse as Penshurst Place and Margate Main Sands to a wide range of public gardens, parks, amphitheatres and many of the county’s best loved castles.

This year also bmarks the debut of Changeling Theatre’s new apprentice, Millie Bevan from Rochester.

The 18-year-old Rochester actor will play key roles in both productions, under an apprenticeship scheme Changeling calls “a unique opportunity for young people with aspirations to be an actor to get live theatre experience and benefit from working with a professional cast and crew.”

Many of the company’s apprentices have successfully gone onto drama school and professional performing careers, with revious apprentices including Charlie Oscar (All’s Well that Ends Well/She Stoops to Conquer 2016) who gained a place at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire and then went straight into the last season of BBC 1’s Doctor Who with Jodie Whittaker.

Alfie Mapes from Bearsted, was last year’s apprentice and has since joined the prestigious Youth Theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.

Artistic director Rob said: “When Millie turned up on Zoom during the pandemic for our Apprentice auditions for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we were blown away with her talent and grasp of Shakespearian language.

“However, at the age of 15 she was just too young to take part. This year, now 18, we are delighted to invite Millie to be our next apprentice. We look forward to having her on board for our 2023 tour, where she will gain invaluable performing experience with a professional touring theatre company.”

Millie has been a fan of Changeling since seeing As You Like It back in 2012 and has wanted to be an Apprentice since she was just 11 years old.

She graduated from Rochester Independent College as their Drama Scholar and then attended Gravesham and District Theatre Guild before taking part in the National Theatre Young Producers course and Shakespeare’s Globe Youth Theatre, where she got to perform on the Globe stage in London. She has also gained a place at Rose Bruford College in Sidcup to study acting in September.

Millie says: “I first applied for Changeling two years ago, but I was too young (which in all honesty I knew but I was chancing my arm!); then I auditioned again last year but wasn’t quite right yet either, with the wonderful Alfie Mapes getting the role.

“Finally, this year the timing is right and I’m getting the chance to do what I’ve always wanted to! I’m overjoyed.”

For more information on dates and venues visit www.changeling-theatre.com.

The summer tour starts with Love’s Labour’s Lost at Boughton Monchelsea Place on June 30, followed by School for Scandal at the same venue the following day.