Editing Reading Abbey (section)

==Open-air theatre and performance==
The ruins of Reading Abbey have a history of live performance. From early impromptu artist-led events, the site has established a history of open-air theatre.

In the late 1980s, the food art and performance collective La Grande Bouche organised a cabaret under marquee in the ruins. The evening offered music and performance acts combined with food, much of which cooked by contributing performers.{{citation needed | date = April 2010}}

In 1994, a large scale performance event "From the Ruins"<ref name="From the Ruins">[https://vimeo.com/15292692 Andrew Lewis. Video of 1994 performance 'From the Ruins', shot on Hi-8, later digitised]</ref> was held in the abbey ruins, the finale event for the "Art in Reading" (AIR) festival, funded in part by [[Reading Borough Council]].  This was organised by and featured a large number of artists and performers living or working in Reading,<ref name="ftr-artists">[https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosemarybeetle/3856636592/in/set-72157611592536780/ Contributing organisations to From the Ruins as listed in contemporary project documentation in 1994]</ref> and combined specially created music, dance, paintings, poetry and culminated in a spectacular evening performance involving large scale puppetry and pyrotechnics loosely based upon the history of Reading Abbey from the foundation by Henry I through the rise of the merchant classes to the dissolution and eventual sacking of the Abbey under Henry VIII.

In 1995, the ruined South Transept was used as the setting for the first Abbey Ruins Open Air Shakespeare production by MDM Productions and [[Progress Theatre]] in partnership with Reading Borough Council. In 1996, the outdoor production moved to the ruined chapter house and since 1999 has been staged by Progress Theatre in partnership with Reading Borough Council. This annual event expanded to the "Reading Abbey Ruins Open Air Festival" in 2007. Because of the access limitations during the restoration project, the 2009 and 2010 festivals could not be held, and the event has since relocated to the gardens of [[Caversham Court]].<ref name=arfest>{{cite web |url=http://www.abbeyruins.com/history.html |title=Reading Abbey Ruins Open Air Festival: History |publisher=Progress Theatre |access-date=14 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106010819/http://www.abbeyruins.com/history.html |archive-date=6 January 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://progresstheatre.co.uk/about-us |title=About Progress Theatre |publisher=Progress Theatre |access-date=6 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206155857/http://progresstheatre.co.uk/about-us |archive-date=6 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> "Shakespeare in the Ruins" returned to the Chapter House in July 2018 after the ruins reopened to the public after extensive conservation in June 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=Progress Theatre - Much Ado About Nothing |url=https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/progress-theatre-much-ado-about-nothing |website=Reading Museum |publisher=Reading Borough Council |access-date=5 December 2018 |ref=Progress Theatre - Much Ado About Nothing}}</ref>