The Fellows’ Gardens in King’s College are spacious and picturesque. The college’s quasi-Gothic architecture towering nearby provides a beautiful backdrop in one direction, while the secluded leafy quiet of the gardens themselves is disturbed by little more than the gentle murmur of the River Cam not far off. It is, in other words, the perfect place to host an outdoor theatrical performance.

Yesterday, a group of the students in Clare College travelled up the road to King’s, to watch the critically-acclaimed production of Much Ado About Nothing being performed as part of the annual Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. Much Ado About Nothing is a complex comedy, utilising many of Shakespeare’s favourite comic ploys: mistaken identity, disguises, malapropisms and double entendres all feature heavily, in addition to, at least in this production, enormous amounts of slapstick humour, especially from the unfortunate Constable Dogberry. With the sun peeking out from behind light cloud towards the end of the day, students were wholly immersed in the performance, and a very merry time was had by all.

Back in Clare College, another evening diversion was brought by the arrival of a birds of prey workshop. Students were able to both learn about, and touch, hawks, falcons, owls and eagles- and also to emulate their favourite characters in Game of Thrones, thrilled to have mighty, noble creatures perched on their wrists.