The Varsity Hotel launches Cambridge’s first rooftop theatre
This August, The Varsity Hotel & Spa in Cambridge will host a summer season of open air Shakespeare atop its stunning rooftop garden.
A completely unique way to enjoy the Bard’s work, the rooftop theatre will be held on Sunday 3rd August and Sunday 17th August and feature scenes from The Taming of the Shrew alongside recitals of Shakespeare’s Sonnets against the beautiful backdrop of the breath-taking Cambridge skyline. Attendees can enjoy a glass of bubbles on the roof whilst taking in the performance before tucking in to a post-theatre three course repast at The Varsity’s in-house restaurant, The River Bar Steakhouse. Head Chef Angus Martin’s summer menu of gourmet offerings includes choice cuts of locally-reared steak, fresh fish, gourmet pies and summer salads and promises to cater to the most demanding palate.
Curated by the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival (cambridgeshakespeare.com), the performances are performed in full Elizabethan regalia and are designed to be enjoyed by all, from novices, to devotees.
All are welcome at the events, and, whether guest or local, entrance is free! Priority tickets with dinner are also available to book at £30 per person. The performance starts at 7pm followed by a three course dinner the hotel’s River Bar Steakhouse. Priority Dinner places can be booked at thevarsityhotel.co.uk.
Dr David Crilly, Artistic Director of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, comments, “We’re passionate about bringing Shakespeare to life in new ways and for new audiences, so we’re delighted to partner with the Varsity Hotel to create two unique theatrical experiences. Our actors are excited to be performing with such a stunning backdrop; we feel it gives a heightened drama to the Bard’s words which the audience is sure to enjoy.”
The Varsity Hotel & Spa
The Varsity is an independently owned 48 room boutique hotel and spa in the hub of the Cambridge town’s buzzing Quayside area.
The design concept is modern British, juxtaposing the traditional with cutting-edge elements throughout the hotel’s six floors. All interior design elements combine fabrics and wallpapers from Colefax and Fowler, Osborne and Little, Farrow and Ball and other established British names. Although each room is individual, guests can expect to see strong patterned wallpapers from Nineteenth Century English cotton print or botanical influences, solid oak flooring throughout each room, sandstone bathrooms with monsoon showers and some with free standing Victorian baths.
The top two floors of the hotel are made entirely from glass allowing breath-taking views of the surrounding area from the comfort of the room, including St John’s College spires, the lush green of Midsummer Common or the punts gliding down the Cam.
Larger suites have spacious wooden-decked balcony areas with comfortable loungers for guests to recline on and watch the world go by.
Bedrooms are available for check in from 3pm and check out is by 11.30am the following morning.
Additional complimentary amenities include wireless internet access throughout the hotel, a DVD and music library with an iPod dock in every room, sparkling and still water and fruit on arrival and papers and magazines in communal guest areas.
The Glassworks Spa is located in the adjoining warehouse building and provides a cutting-edge health club with state-of-the-art gym equipment and yoga, pilates, aerobics, spinning classes on site. All hotel guests will receive complimentary membership to The Glassworks during their stay .The spa itself comprises of a beautiful Jacuzzi that overlooks the river, a sauna and steam room and eight private rooms offering treatments from facials and massage to manicures and pedicures.
Prices at The Varsity start at £155.
