Grand Central sponsors second season of Shakespeare's Rose Theatre in York

Grand Central has been named headline sponsor of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre – York’s award-winning pop-up Shakespearean theatre - for the second year running.

Following its highly successful inaugural season in 2018 which attracted more than 80,000 visitors to York, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre will pop up again at the foot of Clifford’s Tower in the historic city from Tuesday 25th June to Sunday 1st September.

Today, Grand Central, which has its headquarters in York and will be transporting thousands of theatre-goers this summer, announced it was once again headline sponsor for the popular pop-up attraction.

Members of the public will be able to travel via Grand Central to see four of William Shakespeare’s best-known plays: Hamlet, Henry V, The Tempest and Twelfth Night.

Inspired by the famous London Rose Theatre built in 1587, audiences will be transferred to the thrilling, intimate atmosphere of an Elizabethan playhouse and will witness plenty of breath-taking, spine-tingling and heart-stopping moments.

Each performance will house an audience of 900; the 13-sided scaffolding theatre offers three tiers of covered seating for 560 around an open courtyard for 340 standing ‘groundlings’.

Outside the theatre, visitors will be able to experience a vibrant, free-to-enter Shakespearean village offering the finest Yorkshire food and drinks from oak-framed, reed-thatched buildings, an array of ‘waggon’ entertainment, minstrels and a stunning Elizabethan garden with ornate box-edged beds of cottage flowers, roses and herbs.

Liam Smallwood, Marketing & PR Executive at Grand Central, said: “We’re delighted to be able to sponsor this fantastic event once again. It’s a tremendous coup for the city of York, and we’re really excited to see rehearsals underway in advance of the theatre going up.

“We’re especially looking forward to transporting and welcoming thousands of visitors to our wonderful city for this ‘summer of Shakespeare’ – and, who knows, some of them may even travel on our specially-named William Shakespeare train which was named in honour of the great Bard himself to hail the sponsorship of the same event last summer.”

James Cundall MBE, Chief Executive of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions and founder of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, said: “We’re delighted to welcome back Grand Central as title sponsor for our second summer season, who “towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed (Henry IV Part I)”! I’m sure audiences in Shakespearean times would have appreciated the comfort and style that Grand Central also offers!”

“We look forward to welcoming audiences from all over the UK to four exciting new productions at Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre.”

To find out more about Grand Central, please visit www.grandcentralrail.com, or follow the railway company on Twitter @GC_Rail, Facebook or LinkedIn.

Anyone wishing to book tickets or find out more about Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre should visit www.shakespearesrosetheatre.com or follow @ShakespearesRT on Twitter.

---

Notes to editors:

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.

Established in 2007, Grand Central celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company has just been named Britain’s best value rail operator for the seventh time.

Grand Central operates West Riding Services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London King’s Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London King’s Cross.

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers over 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year.

For further information, please contact:

Sarah Banks/Anna Hodgson, PR Account Director
0191 261 4250
GrandCentral@gardiner-richardson.com
sarahb@gardiner-richardson.com / annah@gardiner-richardson.com

For further media information about Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, please contact:

Arabella Neville-Rolfe, PR Account Director, Target Live
07815025364
Arabella.neville-rolfe@target-live.co.uk