Order in Court!

Pack a Picnic. Support the Bar. Enjoy the Show.

Doors and York House bar open at 4:30 pm | Singing starts at 5:00 pm

Perfect Summer Evening at York House, Stony Stratford

We kindly ask that you support our hosts, the York House Trust charity by buying your drinks at their fully licensed bar.

Bring your favourite picnic spread and chairs or a picnic blanket. We can move indoors if it’s wet.

There’s a 30 minute interval to give you plenty of time to replenish your drinks and enjoy your picnic as you relax in the gardens of this beautiful Georgian house.

Looking for Fantastic Things to Do in Milton Keynes This Summer?

Join us for a unique outdoor event in Milton Keynes this August. If you love live music in Stony Stratford, our annual summer production is the perfect weekend outing for friends and family.

Set in the gorgeous, historic gardens of York House, it stands out among summer events in Buckinghamshire as the ideal place to take a picnic and relax with a drink from the fully licensed bar while you enjoy first-class theatrical entertainment in the open air.

Act 1 – The Law and Dilemmas

Songs from G&S with themes of dilemmas and the law are rather plentiful. We will be including some of the best. We will have that most susceptible Chancellor from Iolanthe, the Gondoliers trying to solve their problem in a contemplative fashion and Josephine pretending to get the audacious tar Ralph to refrain.

The sergeant will sing of Felons not engaged from the Pirates of Penzance and anger will spread his wing in that famous double chorus from Princess Ida. Ida gets another run out in the pensive quartet, The World is but a Broken Toy.

There’s more dramatic singing for the Yeomen of the Guard and citizens when they find the prisoner gone in the glorious Act 1 Finale.

Not all G&S either. We’ll have some Therapy from tick, tick… BOOM! and sing about the Fine Fine Line in that great song from Avenue Q.

Mrs Lovett and Sweeney Todd will discuss macabre pie recipes in A Little Priest and Fraulein Schneider asks the question from Cabaret, What Would You Do?

Act 2 – Trial by Jury

It’s not widely known that Gilbert and Sullivan’s shortest show was made even shorter by cutting a couple of songs before it premiered. We have restored those ‘lost’ G&S songs.

There is the original solo for the Usher and the Foreman’s prayer. Both numbers were written by Gilbert and composed by Sullivan but cut from the premiere.

It’s interesting to speculate that this was because of the show’s placing in a crowded schedule.

The original performance was preceded by a curtain raiser with the fabulous name of ‘Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata’. It’s special, and probably only claim to fame, was that the popular actress, Linda Verner played a character called Polly Toddleposh. It ran for about half an hour.

The main event was a production of ‘La Perichole.’ That show runs for a good 2 hours which, with an interval for drinks, meant the original production of ‘Trial’ may not have even started until around 10:20 pm. Some contrast with our much more civilised 5:00 pm!