THE finale to Dorchester Arts' hugely successful summer outdoor theatre season comes on Thursday August 24 when The Handlebards pedal in to Maumbury Rings to perform Shakespeare’s classic As You Like It.

The HandleBards are the world’s first cycling theatre company. Since 2013, their two troupes (one all-male, the other all-female) have pedalled more thN 6,000 miles across the UK to perform their unique brand of “charmingly chaotic, environmentally sustainable, bicycle-powered Shakespeare”.

Producer Paul Moss said that, in usual HandleBards style, we can expect “riotous amounts of energy, a fair old whack of chaos, and a great deal of laughter” from the show.

2017 will mark The HandleBards’ fifth UK summer season, having begun their adventure in 2013 with a 967 mile cycle from Glasgow to London. Back then, it was theatre on a shoestring - and not meant figuratively - the boys used shoelaces and a sponge to attach their trailers to their bikes.

The group has gone from strength-to-strength; they’ve grown from a set of friends with cheap bikes and a rickety old trailer to an internationally successful theatre company, who have performed their brand of fast-paced, bicycle-powered Shakespeare in twelve countries across three continents, winning the support of legions of fans, including British bicycle manufacturer Pashley, whose hand-crafted bikes the HandleBards will be riding throughout 2017.

The HandleBards also work hard to grow real engagement with local communities. They invite local musicians to play at their shows, and encourage localities to see their performances as an opportunity for the whole community to get together over something positive.

The HandleBards will also perform As You Like It on Bridport's Millennium Green on Wednesday, August 23 at 7.30pm.

*As You Like It, Maumbury Rings, Dorchester, Thursday, August 24 at 7.30pm. Call Dorchester Arts box office for tickets.