Mamma Mia to kickstart summer events at Shaw House tomorrow (Sat)

The council is looking to cut its funding to Berkshire’s largest Elizabethan house by 75 per cent in the next four years, from £150,000 a year to £36,500 by 2018/19.
It says that the house isn’t being used effectively or marketed well enough and has made a series of recommendations to improve its usage.
The first event planned is an outdoor screening of the film Mamma Mia, which will take place on Saturday. Gates open at 7.30pm, and the film will start after sunset at about 9.15pm. There will be a barbecue, Pimms tent and light refreshments for sale, but people can also take picnics.
Other open-air cinema events planned are screenings of 1980s film Dirty Dancing on August 16 and the 2012 smash hit and triple Oscar-winning Les Misérables on September 13.
Live performances will also feature in the summer line-up, with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on July 3 and Robin Hood by the Illryia Theatre Company on August 31.
Tickets for all events are available from Shaw House, call (01635) 279279, and from the Visitor Information Centre, Newbury Market Place, call (01635) 30267. Tickets for the cinema events can also be purchased from

A listing of all events at Shaw House can be found on the council’s website info.westberks.gov.uk
n For the full story on the funding cut to Shaw House, visit