The Guildford Shakespeare Company – David Copperfield.

I was delighted to have been invited by Howard Smith, Mayor of Guildford, to the opening night of Guildford Shakespeare’s David Copperfield, which was being performed at Holy Trinity Church in Guildford High Street. It was an absolute treat, and quite how the cast of three managed the choreography of costume and character changes as well as their lines was a wonder to behold. It is the first production in GSC’s 20^th year. As a long-standing Guildfordian, I have been around for all twenty of those years and seen numerous wonderful productions. But GSC also do so much more for the wider community, last year offering over 29,000 participation opportunities (of which nearly 22,000 were free to access) from mental health programmes to young carer dramas to intergenerational hubs with care homes and primary schools. Last year they also ran an eight week ‘Put up Your Swords knife crime’ awareness project designed for schools on the back of their Romeo and Juliet production.

At a reception ahead of the opening night, co-founders Matt Pinches and Sarah Gobran reflected on how far GSC has come in its first 20 years, and I for one am very much looking forward to the next twenty!