Culture: From the Heart; Attention-seeking peacocks, biblical storms and malfunctioning satellite navigation systems. Sam Wonfor peeks behind the figurative curtain of an outdoor theatre company on tour.

IT'S 4pm when I arrive in Jesmond Dene to meet up with the cast of Henry V to discuss the challenges of outdoor theatre.

Heartbreak Productions, who have enjoyed a two-week residency in the Dene for the past five-or-so years have their contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare's inspirational play scheduled for a 7.30pm performance but I'm thinking proceedings must have hit a major snag.

Scanning the grassy area next to Pets' Corner, I'm struggling to see anything resembling a stage.

There's a high pile of chairs stacked up like they've been packed up and the only hint of theatrics is coming from a three-year-old who has just been told a double 99 cone is not an option.

What a shame and on an afternoon like this when the sun is casting its smile-enducing spell and setting the sky up for a sunset backdrop you'd pay more than a little money for.

Shows how much I know.

Apparently the entire stage, set and caboodle for a Heartbreak Productions production can be put up, tested and ready to go inside two hours. And not only that, the five perspiring gentlemen who are doing the honours will also be the ones treading the temporary boards they've laid when the curtain (I'm speaking figuratively) goes up.

Within a half hour or so, the lion's share of the stage has materialised and things are so much on schedule that Andrew Tait, a Heartbreak newcomer, who is taking no less than eight parts in the play, reckons he can spare 10 minutes for a chat.

"This is the first production I've done with Heartbreak and it was a bit of a shock to start with in terms of the amount of work involved," admits the 28-year-old from Perthshire. "You could say it's been a very steep learning curve.

"But once you've done it a couple of times, and you realise that 'yes, it is possible' - it becomes like second nature and it's great fun. I love it."

As well as building the stage and set, the company of five are also responsible for sorting the lighting, sound, costumes and anything else you could think of.

"It is pretty hectic and there's lots of hard work involved. It's quite full on, but how can you complain on a day like today?" he adds, gesturing to the sky. But yesterday's sunshine was perhaps the furthest cry you could imagine from last year's Heartbreak experience. "That was just horrific," says the company's co-founder and artistic director, Peter Mimmack, as he remembers the torrential rain which made last summer the wettest of washouts.

"It was certainly the wettest summer I have encountered. Not just in Jesmond, either.

"The sheer quantity of rain was ridiculous. It's one thing when it rains during the performance but those conditions meant we couldn't even get to some of the venues. Crazy time. It was like Glastonbury - but EVERYWHERE."

When you consider Heartbreak Productions has been doing its thing since 1991, it's fair to assume that most eventualities could be planned for.

"You try to," says Peter, "but sometimes things are impossible to predict.

"We once had a bulldog who arrived on the stage and simply refused to budge I mean, what do you do?

"We've also had some interesting times with peacocks and one time we had an influx of May Bugs (a harmless hornet-type buzzer who like to dive bomb Shakesperian actors, apparently).

"Although they don't sting, when there's a big swarm of them buzzing around your head, you do tend to freak out. There were actors running all over the place."

So far, the elemental problem this year, Peter says, has been the wind.

"It's sometimes worse than the rain.

We've lost flags and parts of the set, had the workings of magic tricks exposed, had the confetti shooting off in the wrong direction. It can be pretty disruptive."

As a rule, Heartbreak have four or five touring productions on the go on a kind of theatrical carousel.

Jesmond has already played host to Peter Pan, then after Henry V's three-night run, audiences will be treated to A Midsummer Night's Dream and then Charley's Aunt. "The logistics can get a bit tricky," says the company's marketing man, Edward Beresford.

"Vans are dropped off and picked up at different locations, you have to make sure there's the right amount of seating at the right site and sometimes just getting everyone in the right place is a challenge."

Peter agrees.

"We've had a few interesting run-ins with satellite navigation systems," he says with a hint of 'we can laugh about it now' in his voice.

But it's always nice to get back to Newcastle (Peter lived here until he was 10 and then returned as a student at Newcastle University in the 1980s.

"Jesmond is a lovely site especially in that atmospheric hollow of the Dene. There's a sort of wildness about it. It's great for productions which have a little darkness about them."

As long as the rain stays away a collective prayer for sunshine please.

Heartbreak Productions present Henry V tonight and tomorrow; A Midsummer Nights Dream on Saturday and Sunday; and Charley's Aunt at Belsay Hall, Northumberland, on Wednesday and then at Jesmond Dene from July 31 to August 3. For tickets, call 08570 066-6846, visit www.quaytickets.co.uk or buy on the "door". For more information, visit www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk

CAPTION(S):

JACK OF ALL TRADES The cast erects the stage and set for Henry V; FINAL FIX Joe Herzfeld sorts out the lights before getting into costume; WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW Henry V, in modern day dress, will entertain the crowds tonight and tomorrow; READY From left, Marcus Cooper, Joe Herzfeld, Peter Collis, Andrew Tait and Paul O'Neill preparing for the Henry V production in Jesmond Dene.