"Don't look at them, look at me," a peacock seemed to be saying as he posed magnificently between the audience and the Shakespearean play being performed by Theatre Set-Up in the open air at Trevarno, Cornwall, effectively upstaging it. "I am really worth looking at!" Fed up with the noise that was disturbing his rest in the tree above the play, his was a deliberate attempt to stop it. Often though, the interference of creatures in the company's performances was accidental... "It is dreadful thing to see the wig that transforms your character being carted off by a fox!" cried an actress as she watched a fox race off with the red wig she had set in the open-air stage right changing area of Wollaton Hall, Nottingham. Evidently he had rescued the wig from this improvised theatre arena, mistaking it for one of his cubs! This was typical of the chaos that birds, bats, cats, dogs, sheep and horses could make of open-air performances in heritage sites. Add to that the confusion that rain, storms, wind and hot sun could add to the experience and an element of adventure unknown in regular indoor venues prevailed. This book tells the anecdotes of these adventures in this kind of theatre experienced by the international, professional Theatre Set-Up company (see www.ts-u.co.uk), which survived the vicissitudes of touring mostly open-air performances of Shakespeare in heritage sites from 1976 to 2011, performing throughout the UK from 1979 and in mainland Europe from 1993. Venues and gear of the company were transferred to The Festival Players in 2011. Its tours in 1979, 1980 and 1981 pioneered the genre, a species of theatre which has since then proliferated, providing many actors with paid employment and heritage sites with performances of plays presented conveniently with the minimum of fuss, cost and accoutrements. The companies bravely performing in this kind of theatre all experience the kinds of incidents recorded in this book, which salutes their courage and determination to "Carry on Regardless"! About the Author: Dr Wendy Jean Macphee was a teacher and lecturer in English, drama and music from 1960 to 2012 and was founder, administrator, artistic director, actor and musician for Theatre Set-Up. She now writes books (see Secret Meanings in Shakespeare Applied to Stage Performance, www.wjm-travelogue.net and www.wjm-pyramid.uk).

When a dead body is found in the royal box of her sorcerous theater, Mage Nevis Conarkin is shocked to realize that she’s being framed for murder. Although Nevis cannot provide an alibi to prove her innocence, she apparently has a motive to have stabbed the corpse. While struggling to uncover the true villain, with the help of her flamboyant friend who operates the local brothel, Nevis unhappily finds the evidence pointing to one of her actors. In the midst of the murder investigation, Nevis dives into the chaos of rehearsals for the opening night of a play she detests. The script commemorates her successful defeat of a renegade mage, her personal friend, and his plot to allow an invasion by Cashogi foreigners. Hating to be in the spotlight and wishing to avoid the sad memories engendered by the play, Nevis is unable to convince Devlin Graham, the monarch and Nevis’ lover, to cancel the performance. And so the rehearsals—fraught with touchy actors, frazzled stage crew, dangerous incidents, and interruptions from the hard-nosed constable—move forward.

An international journalist meets, falls in love, and marries an Indian journalist who also happens to be a landed prince with a run-down palace in need of serious repair.

The village community in a drought prone region of South India take on their fate in their own way. Fed on a philosophy of their own, they try to resolve their problems guided by their own native wisdom; their bargains with the Nature and God must conform to their traditions and customs, they think. They explain to themselves the reasons for their sad plight and the nature of the remedial measures, both of which they believe are imbedded in their fate, which runs its course on the twin wheels of sin and righteousness; their philosophy contrasts with the New Culture the underpinnings of which, theoretically, are freedom of man and democracy, but, in reality are diverse and different. Perplexed, they pine for what has been lost to them for good. They love the banter and the chitchat, get into tiffs with fellow men and come out to fall back into a familiar groove to live a life agreeable to their Community and 'their Deities'.

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I was hanging out with Elizabeth when I saw the boy again. Not just a boy, but that boy, the one you sort-of notice, but only to think, hey, wasn't he here yesterday? He glided by Elizabeth's hedge on his bike once too often, giving that sliding sideways glance he hoped (I expect) looked casual, disinterested and, oh, there's that chick again, hanging out with her big sister...or is it her auntie? Too old to be a friend. Elizabeth is my great-great-great-great-great granny, for your information, Bike Boy, I thought-spoke to him on the fourth bypass of the week. He toed his pedal down and skimmed away before getting into some serious calf-work as he headed up the hill towards Caroline Court. Cat Mahal has an ordinary life in the suburbs. She is also an ethical witch