Work has started in Chorlton Park at the site of the five-week Manchester Open Air Theatre season.

Actor Michael Justice, a member of Northern Rep theatre company – that produces MOAT – broke the ground ahead of the summer of theatre in the park.

Work is now under way to transform part of the park into an eco-friendly theatre space ahead of the opening night of the season on Monday 31 July.

Audiences will be able to enjoy the unfolding dramas on offer from 100% natural earthen banks built from the ground, which will be a mix of bank seating and picnic areas.

Five productions – Macbeth (William Shakespeare), The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling), The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde), Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie) and Hamlet (William Shakespeare) – will be presented in rep over five weeks.

This means the same core company of actors, stage managers, designers and the director, create and perform all the of the shows.

MOAT will run from Monday 31 July to Saturday 2 September in Chorlton Park.

Check out what’s on at the Manchester Open Air Theatre season.