Theatre / Riddlestick Theatre
Riddlestick are back with hit musical comedy Barleycorn and a brand-new show
Born in Bristol a decade ago – the city where, they say, their heart still lies – Riddlestick Theatre are a troupe of actor-musicians with a host of productions to their name: The Cabinet of Madame Fanny Du Thé, FOOLS, Undercover Christmas Club and The Dead of Night in the Middle of Nowhere amongst them.
Making work inflected with folk traditions and plenty of live music, they are inspired by the “weird and wonderful” – no more so than in their hit show Barleycorn, which is back on tour over the summer of 2026.
Returning to The Wardrobe Theatre on August 12 for the first of a four-night run, this musical comedy is set in the fictional English village of Hopley Drew, where local residents find their summer derailed by some intriguing – and possibly sinister? – goings on.
is needed now More than ever
Barleycorn at The Wardrobe Theatre in the summer of 2025
A fortnight later, and the company will be back at the same venue with Song of the Crow, a brand-new production set in southern Cornwall in 1917.
As the First World War continues into a third year, a group of runaways participate in “strange rituals and tales of long-lost loves”, unseen amongst the cliffs.
“But the tides are turning. Crow has taken to watching the sea. The voices of the dead are getting louder. And when a soldier from the front line washes up on the rocks nearby, the truth about Crow, and Lizard Point, threatens to drown them all.”
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Barleycorn (age recommendation 12+) is at The Wardrobe Theatre on August 12-15 at 7.30pm, and Song of the Crow is at the same venue and the same time on August 30-September 2. Tickets are available at www.thewardrobetheatre.com.
Follow @riddlesticktheatre for updates.
All photos: Sam Patching
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