A GROUP of around 40 strolling players and spectators gathered in Coronation Road, Rodborough, on Saturday to celebrate the work of Shakespeare.

Scenes from a variety of plays were acted out in the street and in homes and gardens on a sun-splashed spring afternoon.

The day, part of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death, started with a quiz about Rodborough in Shakespearian couplets.

Next came Act 1 Scene 2 from The Tempest, and then the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet.

The motley troupe of residents then crossed King’s Road for a moving and comic interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a back garden.

All the while the strolling players were being followed by a boat, carried by James Pentney, who gave a talk about how he is planning to visit Iona and the Scottish islands for a poetic pilgrimage to the burial place of the historic Macbeth.

King Lear and a rendition of the Seven Ages of Man were enacted, before scenes from Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet.

One last promenade meant the ending of the revels with a quick fire Ten Dirty Jokes from Shakespeare in Ten Minutes.

Filming took place in the afternoon, with a screening of the celebrations likely to be shown at the Trinity Rooms in Stroud.