THE Ides of February, or the beginning of spring, are marked in many different ways and this year in Swindon they will be celebrated by The Gathering.

The Ides of February are often linked to fertility rites in pagan times or St Valentine’s Day, and in Italy it is called Lupercalia to remember Romulus and Remus, who were supposedly raised by a she wolf and then went on to found Rome.

In Swindon the Wrong Shoes Theatre Company will be creating a promenade piece of theatre based on a secret gathering where people meet on the Ides of February for the festival of frivolity and forgiveness.

Hannah Baker, from Wrong Shoes, said: “The Gathering is shrouded in mystery and open only to those fortunate enough to receive an invitation, a group of strangers who are given the chance to change their lives forever. They are invited to find forgiveness. Sacrifice will set you free.”

The Gathering takes place at Artsite in the Post Modern Gallery in Swindon’s Theatre Square from Wednesday, February 11 to St Valentine’s Day (Saturday, February14) at 2pm and 8pm and is suitable for those over 16.

The actors are collaborating with the artists from Artsite to transform the Post Modern for the performance.

The artistic director of Wrong Shoes, Luke Marquez, said: “Swindon is host to some wonderfully creative artists and it has been such a pleasure working with some of them.”

The idea behind Artsite is to encourage the cultural life of Swindon in all the arts and Wrong Shoes tries to create challenging new work that explores the relationship between audience and performance, so The Gathering is the perfect collaboration.

Last year Wrong Shoes had a successful sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival with their thought-provoking drama The Anima Project.

The actors began to work on The Gathering as a community project in October last year.

David Cousens, one of the performers, said: “This has been a new experience for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the creative process and having the audience in the space with you is a scary but exciting prospect.”

Tickets to join The Gathering are £10 plus booking fee from www.ticketsource.co.uk/ wrongshoes.

– Flicky Harrison