Shakespeare 'boosts milk production'

Farmers claim that performing William Shakespeare's plays to cows can help them produce more milk.

The Bard's works were said to relax a dairy herd and help boost production by as much as four per cent, reports the Daily Telegraph.

A Kent theatre group staged the "bizarre experiment" to see if drama would have the same beneficial effect as classical music on cows.

The Changeling Theatre Company, which specialise in 'very quirky, open-air Shakespeare productions', performed for Friesian cows at a farm near Maidstone.

Scenes from The Merry Wives of Windsor apparently led to an increase in milk yields of four per cent.

Rob Forknall, the group's artistic director, said: "It started off as a rather a bizarre experiment after I was talking to a farmer about whether Shakespeare would have the same effect on cows as classical music.

"We were all slightly surprised when it did. Since then we've done several rehearsals with the cows. It saves us having to book rehearsal space and the farmer's very pleased to get more milk.

"We chose a light-hearted comedy because we thought some of the heavier, woeful scenes from the Bard's tragedies might have had the opposite effect."

Liam Batt, a farm worker, added: "Anything that calms the animals and reduces their stress is good and Shakespeare ticks all the right boxes.

"Perhaps there is something in the language of Shakespeare - we don't know, but it seems to work and milk production has gone up four per cent."