A VIDEO starring Prescotians performing one of Shakespeare's most famous verses has been launched.

The community film, made by MATE Productions, was released on Saturday, April 23 which features residents of the town reading lines from the famous "All the world's a stage" speech in play As You Like it.

Its release coincides with the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death aged 52 in 1616.

Featuring more than 30 people from all age groups, the video sees each one speak a line from the speech with it being filmed at various locations around Prescot.

The film will be played in a loop at Prescot museum and library.

“MATE’s specialism is outdoor theatre and community arts, we like to get out there and engage with people – local residents, businesses, community groups, churches, schools - and make exciting theatre that reaches ordinary people in extraordinary spaces," said Gaynor La Rocca, artistic director at MATE Productions. 

"Our projects involve so many members of the community young and old, and I think you can see this from the stars of the film – the youngest being Parker Couzens aged six months, the grandson of Tom Large, one of our community actors who also appears in the film as the lean and slippered panteloon, and the oldest is one of our most committed volunteers Barbara Percy.” 

The town's connections with the Bard have also been boosted with the news that the Shakespeare North Playhouse and education centre was given the green light.

The town's historical connections to the wordsmith build on evidence that suggests some of his earliest plays were performed in the town, which was home to one of only a handful of standing theatres outside London in the 16th century.

There is even a possibility the Bard himself may have visited the theatre on a trip with the Earl of Derby.

Also, an outdoor touring production of As You Like It is to be performed by MATE Productions, in partnership with the Shakespeare North Trust and the RSC Open Stages, which will premiere in Prescot woods on the weekend of June 4 and 5.