A HOST of well known names from television and stage, including EastEnders bad boy Danny Mitchell, have confirmed they are taking part in Chester’s brand new open air theatre season, due to start in Grosvenor Park on July 15.

Thusitha Jaysundera (Holby City, The Bill, Royal Shakespeare Company), TV bad boys Liam Bergin and Jake Maskall (EastEnders), Alan Cox (Young Sherlock Holmes, An Awfully Big Adventure, Midsummer Murders), Susan Twist (Brookside), Russell Richardson (Coronation Street, Hollyoaks), plus a host of revered theatre actors will complete the cast.

Produced by Chester Performs, the programme includes Shakespearean comedy Much Ado About Nothing and a brand new family adaptation of Hercules.

Directed by internationally renowned theatre directors Ed Dick and Alex Clifton, with music by Alex Silverman the productions are set to revitalise Chester’s theatre scene, and be a regular feature in the city’s cultural calendar.

Thusitha Jaysundera, an acclaimed theatre and television actress, whose credits include, Crime and Punishment and War Horse at the National Theatre, Twelfth Night at the Young Vic and Comedy of Errors for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Jaysundera also had a three year role on The Bill and Holby City. She will play Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.

Liam Bergin, playing Much Ado’s hero Claudio, joins the cast after a six month stint in top TV soap Eastenders, in which he played bad boy Danny Mitchell. Also from the London soap is Jake Maskall, playing Don John. Alan Cox, a celebrated theatre actor will play Much Ado About Nothing’s Benedik, has starred in a range of film, TV and stage productions, including a role opposite Academy Award winner Laurence Olivier.

Theatre stars include Stefan Butler, who recently featured in the Liverpool Everyman’s production of Kes, Fine Time Fontayne, Fiona Keats, Ged McKenna, Robert Mountford, Leon Scott, Augustina Seymour, Dale Superville and LAMDA graduate David Caves will play eponymous hero Hercules.

All performances will be staged in a unique open air structure in Chester’s manicured Victorian Park. The productions will take place from July 15 until August 8. Performances are Tuesday to Sunday at 7.30pm; Thursdays and Saturdays at 2pm and 7.30pm; and Sundays at 5pm. Tickets cost £10 for unreserved terrace seating and £18 for picnic spaces.

To book call 0843 208 0500, visit www. chesterperforms.com or call into Chester Tourist Information Centre.