1623 associate artist Jane Upton looks back on performing Shakespeare in the Glastonbury mud and camping at the festival for the first time

Midsummer Magic was to be this year’s 1623 Glastonbury show. Scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream mixed with sonnet and song. Ben [Spiller, 1623 artistic director] gathered two casts for rehearsals (one made up of 1623 associate artists and another made up mainly of 1623 trainees). Excitement was high, coupled with a nervousness from the Glasto virgins about what to expect and how they would survive days in the mud, without showers, battling with the elements. I had never camped at the world’s greatest festival so I was also a little apprehensive about performing without much sleep and possibly very little nutrition. I needn’t have worried.

After sailing through light traffic to get to the site, we had to take on the mud for our first walk to the campsite. If you’ve never been to Glastonbury you might not realise that the festival site is huge. You could easily spend an hour trying to walk from one side to the other. Laden with bags and camping paraphernalia, we made the trek. My backpack was so big that I knew I would fall. I just knew it. And I did. Royally. Right into the thick, wet mud. Like a beetle on its back, I writhed about, no way of getting up, until a huge arm came out of the blue and a man, not dissimilar to He-Man, pulled me out. "Welcome to Glasto," said Ben with a smile.

Pitching the tents was an experience. We turned up at our field which, to my uneducated eyes, looked far too full to fit in any more tents. But the experienced in the party pointed out small tufts of grass on which we could lay our tents. So I pitched my pop-up and made it cosy. The rain stayed away just until our little houses were built, and then we rushed over to the Green Room Café in our muddy wellies for a cuppa as huge raindrops fell.

Other cast members arrived throughout the evening and the next morning until we were all together again and ready for our Glastonbury adventure. We went to check out our stage, a lovely little platform in an area called Bella’s Garden, created in memory of Bella Churchill (granddaughter of Winston Churchill) who had programmed the Theatre Field for years and who sadly died in 2007. The garden was a lovely tribute and perfect for our fairy show.

Backstage we blocked the show. For the Glasto newbies, eyes were wide. Giants, grasshoppers on stilts, men dressed as old ladies, weird alien-like creatures all emerge frequently from the dressing tent. The atmosphere is lovely and friendly. It has to be as you peel your dirty, mud-stained clothes from your unwashed body and change into your costume, crisp with sweat from the day’s previous performance. It is great fun to see middle-aged men turn into crazy-looking cavemen in front of your eyes, and other such delights.

Only on the first day did we perform in the rain. Titania and the fairies sleeping as the rain drops dripped into their ears. The walk from backstage to the garden was fun – in character of course, talking to onlookers, fairies mischievously dancing and pulling people to the stage, Titania welcoming the crowds to her fairy kingdom. All done in wellies. And all with great spirit as Titania grew more and more demanding, forcing her fairies to entertain her throughout the walk.

The rivalry grew each day between Titania and her fairies, with Titania’s demands getting more outrageous. Not all the fairies were happy about this of course, but they certainly got their own back when I, as Titania, got my large welly stuck in the mud and felt myself falling forward into a huge pile of wet mud. Oh how the fairies laughed. Laughed until they cried. "Fairies, how could you let this happen?! How could you let this happen?!!" I screamed. Because they simply laughed, I decided the last show was the time to make them clean my sweaty, muddy feet with their bare hands. So I had the last laugh. This time, Mustardseed simply cried.

We had some good audiences. One day, three 20-year-olds found the whole show hilarious and, when their friend joined them later, they told him how it was ‘amazing’ and that he ‘had to watch it’. Lots of wannabe fairies stayed to watch too, one little girl who insisted on wearing my wings and having my ribbons tied in her hair after the show. We gave her a magic rose to take home. And, festival founder and general legend Michael Eavis even popped by for our last show – which we were all very excited about.

The Glastonbury evenings are incredibly special and something I will never forget. Obviously there is a plethora of music to choose from – headliners and big bands playing across the site. But there are so many other things to see. The cabaret tent has comedy and quirky cabaret acts, Block 9 is a post-apocalyptic world with a crumbling tower block complete with a car crashing into its walls, the Stone Circle is a chilled out area high on the hill where people gather to let off lanterns, the Kids Field offers rides and well-known kids characters, and the Acoustic Tent lays on chilled out music from solo acts, big and small, as well as choirs and beat boxers. I simply cannot describe how much there is to see and do. Every night, the 1623 cast and crew got together at midnight in the Green Room Bar to dissect the day, to drink mead and real ale, and to dance away to the brilliant live bands playing for the performers.

Sadly, despite all our efforts to keep it at bay, Monday came and we had to pack up our tents and go home. With the sun shining, four of us started the long walk to the car, struggling through car park and car park, looking for E3 – not easy after just a few hours' sleep and the previous night’s hot spicy cider still playing on my mind. After an accidental detour we were relieved to see the car still there, safe and sound. After piling in, we sat for three hours in our own stench, hardly moving. Being in a stuffy car on a mud track with three boys who have not showered for five days is a memory I am trying to forget. It is fading.

After a nine-hour journey, we found ourselves back in Derby, our spirits still high, happiness pulsing through us and a desire to smile at everyone we met. Glastonbury is something special. It takes you to another plain. Opens up creativity. Even makes you feel like you’re floating. Like you know what life is about. I hope I can hold onto that feeling for a long time.