BRADFORD’S Alhambra Theatre will take centre stage in a documentary celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

Last month the theatre hosted a lavish production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The five night run was part of its Play for a Nation tour, which aimed to show the wide ranging appeal of Shakespeare by filling the cast of one of his most enduring comedies with a mix of professional actors, school pupils and local amateur dramatic groups.

For the play’s run in the Alhambra, pupils from Samuel Lister Academy in Cottingley played Titania’s fairy train and members of the Leeds Arts Centre played the Rude Mechanicals - a group of actors who perform a play within a play. And the role of Bottom, one of the play’s main characters, was played by amateur thespian Barry Green.

Tonight BBC One will be screening a documentary about the tour, with the regional broadcast focusing on the run at the Alhambra.

Titled The Best Bottoms in the Land, 30 minute documentary follows the unique pressures and pitfalls of a project featuring actors from very different backgrounds, from auditions to the opening night of each region’s local performance.

The Alhambra run was the only one in West Yorkshire, and attracted large crowds of people of all ages each night.

Thirty pupils from Samuel Lister Academy were chosen to take part, and spent few months working with the RSC creating their own fairy worlds, learning a fairy song and a dance routine for some of the play’s most elaborate scenes.

Ken Taylor, a retired sales manager, was the director for the six amateur actors and had the huge task of getting them ready to go on the iconic stage of the Alhambra with the RSC actors. He said it was a dream come true for all of them, adding: “It’s the equivalent for an amateur actor of a Sunday league footballer who’s selected to play in the World Cup final.”

Nicola Addyman, Executive Producer of the documentary, said: “This is a delightful film about an incredible group of people who have worked really hard to make their dreams come true.

“Filming their experience has been a lot of fun and I think viewers are going to really enjoy Leeds Arts Centre’s journey.”

Across the country the BBC will screen nine different documentaries, looking at performances in different areas.

The documentary will be on BBC One at 7.30pm tonight.