The Hawth presents out door theatre season

Every Summer, Hawth Woods comes alive as theatre companies from across the country arrive to take to the woodland Amphitheatre stage, offering up the bext productions in the great outdoors.

PROFESSOR SLUG’S HOUSE OF BUGS

Sat 19 July (11am)

Professor Slug is an eccentric expert on invertebrates who helps bugs out with their buggy problems – and you can too! Get as strong as an ant! Teach a bee how to buzz! And help a dung beetle make a pooey perfume for its big date.

The House of Bugs is fully booked with all sorts of bugs seeking help from Professor Slug and his fellow bug experts (that’s you). But can all these buggy problems be solved before the Queen Bee arrives, or will a swarm of wasps wreak havoc?

This interactive show is packed full of colourful puppets, catchy songs, and educational info about the wonderful world of bugs.

Running time: 55 minutes. Age suitability: 3+

HMS PINAFORE (pictured)

Thu 24 July (7pm)

The award-winning Illyria presents this Gilbert and Sullivan favourite. Josephine, the captain’s daughter, is in love with Ralph, a common sailor. But her father insists that she marry Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty - whose roving eye has already noticed her.  

The lovers are caught as they elope from the ship and Ralph is locked in the ship’s dungeon. Can revelations made by the dockside vendor, finally enable everyone to marry their true hearts’ loves?

Full to the gunwales with sharp dialogue and catchy tunes, this timeless comic opera is performed outdoors by a cast of six on a spectacular nautical set, using Sullivan’s full score.

THE SECRET GARDEN

Weds 6 Aug (6pm)

Join Mary, Colin and Dickon as they tell you the story of their favourite place in the world - The Secret Garden.  Suitable for anyone who loves literature and the great outdoors, audiences have described the show as ‘truly captivating’, ‘uplifting’, ‘totally charming and magical’.  

This heartfelt, energetic production is full of original music, puppetry, interaction and laughs. As the three characters discover the transforming power of being active, the magic of nature and the joy of play, you’ll leave this performance with a renewed enthusiasm for the world around you!  

Age suitability: 6+

MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

Sat 23 Aug (5pm)

Falstaff is skint. Dismissing his band of reprobate followers is insufficient to shore up his finances. So he decides to seduce the wives of two merchants in the hope of relieving them of some of their wealth.  

Mistress Page and Mistress Ford are best friends who keep no secrets from one another, so when they receive identical love letters from Falstaff the outraged women vow to share revenge. But Falstaff, led by an organ that isn’t his brain, endures humiliation, terror, even physical pain in his repeated amorous pursuits. What can the merry wives do to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget?

Performed in the great outdoors by five phenomenal actors, this fast-paced production has been created using only the First Folio text - the most authoritative edition of Shakespeare’s plays.  

The Hawth’s outdoor season comes to Crawley’s Hawth Woods on Sat 19 July - Sat 23 Aug 2025

More information and tickets

www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth

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