SHAKESPEAREAN comedy will be placed in a fun farmyard setting when a production of Twelfth Night is staged at Temple Newsam.

Front Room Productions have received Arts Council funding to bring their barmy, farmyard adaptation - complete with live music - to the estate’s Home Farm from August 1 to 12.

The production will transport Shakespeare’s best-loved comedy to modern-day rural Yorkshire, leading audiences through the cobbled yards and traditional buildings of the farm, taking inspiration from its location. Viola and Sebastian will be framed as city-slicker siblings, Orsino as a local farming tycoon, Olivia an ill-suited country girl, and Sir Andrew Auguecheek a try-hard hipster.

The show will be delivered in the original tongue, but unearth the modern day idiosyncrasies in Shakespeare’s language, intending to make the Bard accessible to contemporary audiences.

The action will be underscored by live musical arrangements of familiar pop hits – with a Twelfth Night twist to the lyrics – to bring the show bang up to date, and keep audiences on track.

Front Room’s Creative Producer, Alice Barber, said: “There really is something for everyone – an exciting environment and slapstick humour to keep the kids entertained, the purity of the original text for Shakespeare buffs, and fast-paced action combined with live music to break up the text for those who are totally new to the experience.”

Twelfth Night follows Front Room Productions’ ambitious spring production Hurry Up, Jess, a one-woman show that toured to the bedrooms of fifteen people throughout West Yorkshire.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for Environment and Active Lifestyles said: “Temple Newsam Estate is a wonderful venue for this exciting and unique production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. If you are able to attend I recommend you do; it will be a great opportunity to spend a lovely summers evening outside and to fully immerse yourself in the estate’s beautiful buildings and grounds. I’m confident the show will be a huge success.”

Olivia Race, Artistic Director of Front Room Productions, said: “We wanted to remove staid preconceptions around Shakespeare, and create a contemporary yet faithful production with a real Yorkshire slant – a show that feels as though it could only happen now, and only happen in Leeds.”