AFTER 13 successful years at Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk theatre company Red Rose Chain, like Birnam Wood in Macbeth, is on the move.

The company’s artistic director Joanna Carrick announced yesterday the Ipswich-based company was teaming up with Jimmy’s Farm and relocating its popular outdoor productions to the woods on the farm at Wherstead.

The opening production at the new site will be Shakespeare’s sharp-tongued romantic comedy The Taming of the Shrew.

Jo Carrick said that the evocative tree-lined setting would be retained at their new venue but there would be added audience facilities including food, better toilets and parking.

She said: “As anyone who has been to Jimmy’s woods knows it is a magical location and the perfect place for outdoor theatre.

“We’ve had 13 incredible years in Rendlesham Forest, which has seen the audience grow from a low-key weekend production for an audience of less than a hundred, into a dazzling event experience welcoming more than 10,000 people across the summer season.”

Jimmy Doherty said: “We are so excited to be partnering Red Rose Chain in what we know will be a magical theatrical experience. The company’s reputation for providing the very best theatre is second to none and we can’t wait to get involved with one of the county, if not country’s, most exciting companies. Who knows what future productions might be… Animal Farm or maybe even Babe: Pig in the City?”

The farm will stage Red Rose Chain’s Theatre in the Forest for the next five years, he added.

Joanna added: “The move to Jimmy’s Farm will usher in a new era of the same inventive, magical and accessible Shakespeare productions that have delighted Theatre in the Forest audiences for more than a decade, but in a brand new and beautiful open-air setting. Audiences of all ages love the magic of Theatre in the Forest and this relocation will bring the experience within reach of more people than ever before.”

The Taming of the Shrew will run from July 23 to August 25, the box office is due to open on March 27, with tickets available over the phone on 01473 603388 and online at www.redrosechain.com.