The Merchant of Venice announced as play for the Outdoor Summer Shakespeare season

Summer Shakespeare Tauranga (from left), Nadine Tibbits, Pascal Tibbits, Gin Mabey and Dylan Frewin.

Summer Shakespeare Tauranga (SST) is announcing its fourth annual Outdoor Summer Shakespeare Season at The Historic Village, Tauranga, opening on Thursday January 17.

Director Dylan Frewin has put together a local cast who vary in age from 10 to over 60.

The Merchant of Venice will be performed on the cobbled streets of the Village, in the same location as the previous two seasons.

The cast this year has a strong family involvement with three pairs of parents and their children performing alongside each other.

Paul Mabey (Shylock) plays opposite his daughter Gin Mabey (Portia). Father and son, Pascal and Elijah Tibbits and mother and son, Gayle and Oliver Spence, will also be "treading the boards" together.

"We love to have young actors in our cast, as the experience of performing in a high-calibre, full Shakespeare play is so beneficial for young actors' stagecraft development and understanding of Shakespearean language," producer Nadine Tibbits said in a statement.

"Our director, Dylan Frewin, is the HOD Drama at Pāpāmoa College, and brings a wealth of performance and directing experience to this production. Dylan directed our inaugural production of Twelfth Night in 2016, and returns to take the helm once again. He has played leads in both Much Ado About Nothing (2017) and The Taming of the Shrew (2018).

"SST have been fortunate again this season to receive sponsorship from The Historic Village and Tauranga City Council. As we are a not-for-profit community group, we rely on this support to enable us to continue to bring an annual production to the people of Tauranga."

The season runs from Thursday January 17 to Sunday January 27.

Tickets on sale now at EVENTFINDA.