A CAST of over 50 local actors, singers and musicians have come together to perform Shakespeare’s epic tale of a storm, a shipwreck and an exotic island.

With an original musical score by composer Andrew Dickson, and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lyme’s twinning with St George’s in Bermuda, The Tempest has been adapted to weave in the true story of Lyme-born Admiral George Somers and his shipwreck on Bermuda in 1609. The event allegedly inspired Shakespeare’s play.

A sea view is guaranteed for the spectacular performances of The Tempest of Lyme, performing at the Theatre Square in Lyme Regis every night from July 19 to 24.

In July 1609 Lyme Regis-born Admiral George Somers set sail to carry urgent supplies to the fledgling British settlement of Jamestown in Virginia.

Three months into the voyage, the fleet hit a hurricane that wrecked Somers’ ship on an uninhabited Bermuda.

150 passengers were stranded for ten months on the island before building new ships and sailing on to rescue Jamestown.

Sylvester Jourdain, also from Lyme Regis, wrote an account of the storm, the shipwreck and the Isle of Devils.

Shakespeare read the account, and was inspired to write The Tempest.

Directed by Marine artistic director Clemmie Reynolds, with music by award-winning composer Andrew Dickson (High Hopes, Vera Drake), this open-air theatre production is to be performed on Theatre Square with sweeping views of the Jurassic Coastline, with the weather expected to be the perfect backdrop to the drama.

Marine Theatre patron Oliver Ford Davies said: “It’s wonderful that the link between Lyme-born Admiral Somers and his Bermuda shipwreck, which partly inspired Shakespeare to write The Tempest is being celebrated this July in a fresh adaptation of the play by Andy Rattenbury on Theatre Square.

“The backdrop of the sea is the icing on a truly original cake.”

n The Tempest of Lyme, performing on the Theatre Square in Lyme Regis every night from July 19 to 24 at 7pm.