Permission

Permisssion must be obtained and a fee paid before any of the plays is performed in public, whether or not there is an admission fee.

Details can be obtained by sending an email to johnandleela@startingshakespeare.co.uk

You can pay the fee online by clicking here

St James School Grimsby               March 2012

Twelfth Night

Prep School Production a 'Rip-Roaring' sucess!

“If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On……”

The St. James’ Prep School production of “Twelfth Night” was a rip-roaring success. 41 pupils, aged between 7 and 11, performed a shortened, simplified version of the Shakespearean comedy, in modern English.

From the moment the curtain went up, the cast performed this complex tale with great pace and character. The love forlorn Duke Orsino, excellently played by Eoin Nation, opened the play with Valentine (Owen Du Bédat) and accompanied on the guitar by Harrison Gillett.

The sailors sang us through the story and soon we met Viola who was very characterfully played by Sofia Chacon-Tuke. She was ably assisted by the Ship’s Captain, Tom Bulcock, and, disguised as Cesario, she went to serve the Duke.

[for the rest of the review please go to the school website]

Plymouth College

Henry V

"Finding a play for the lower school with plenty of speaking parts is not easy, but this year the producers were helped by the recent appearance of a series entitled The Inessential Shakespeare. The cast of this production [of Henry V] relished the opportunity to take on a serious play well within their grasp, and on each night there was a large and appreciative audience."

                                                                                                                                                                                                     THE PLYMOTHIAN

Hereford Cathedral School

A Midsummer Night's Dream                                               Comments by the Drama Teacher

"The actual performances went very well, and comments from staff and pupils were very favourable. The cast found the play comical and fun to be involved in and said that they would be interested in seeing how Shakespeare had done it! Adults who saw the performances were impressed at how the play had retained so much of the original....."

Nutley Theatre Workshop

A Midsummer Night's Dream

24th and 25th November 2000

Having looked at the story of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream during the summer term of 2000, the Nutley Youth Theatre Workshop decided to look for a simplified script suitable for performance in November 2000. We read the above version and immediately decided this was the script for us! This is what some of the cast had to say after the performances:

"I played the part of Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream. The simplified version of the original script was wonderful, using modern language with an extensive vocabulary. I was able to enjoy the play a lot more. I loved playing the part of Titania, my lines were magical to say and with the set and costumes the play worked beautifully."

Claire Roberts aged 15

"I got to play the part of Helena which was the one I wanted. I found the modern language a lot easier to cope with because it made it more close to home. The final production was brilliant."

Kate Anderson aged 14

"Hermia is quite a hard part to play. I found it much easier with the modern language as I was able to understand it. It was a very enlightening experience..."

Rosie Lewenstein aged 15

"I thought it was great fun, the way it was written was really fab. I really had fun with my role."

(Bottom) Tom Drury aged 14

"I played a talking fairy. I thought that a Shakespeare play would be very hard with all the old English, but this was great. The best play I’ve ever done."

Harriet Fermor aged 13

“I was Quince. I really enjoyed being him. The play was really good because I wouldn’t have understood it in Shakespeare language but now I know what it means I would understand it."

Woody Lewenstein aged 13

Nutley Youth Theatre Workshop was founded in 1973 and is affiliated to the Nutley Drama Group. It has a junior group (aged 7-11) and a senior group (aged 12-16) who meet on Saturday mornings during term time at Nutley Memorial Hall. A wide variety of theatre skills are taught and enjoyed culminating in an annual performance for parents and public. Visits from outside specialists are also arranged. Recently the group explored the use of character masks, particularly those of the commedia dell’arte.