Shakespeare in a weekend

Speak the speech, I pray you..."

It is a source of amazement that Shakespeare can be performed in a weekend at all but when the actors are all under 13, it is viewed as passing extraordinary!

One of the saddest things we hear is people saying, "I hate Shakespeare". Here, in the English-speaking world we are fortunate indeed to have the greatest playwright the world has ever know (or ever likely to) to have written in English - difficult English it may be but that is not a good enough reason to hate! Performance is the key for through performing Will's wonderful writing we learn to understand what he was talking about.

"... most dear actors, eat no onions or garlic..."

For young people to perform Shakespeare in a weekend, we have to cheat a bit. The plays are cut a little (but never paraphrased - every word is Shakespeare's own), the plays are cast in advance and the lines learned, too. Thus we are ready to go from the first read-through. Then we rehearse, design and bring it to life in just two days with a live performance to an audience at the end of it.

Suitable for any band of young people who love performing or those studying Shakespeare, our participants come from school groups, youth groups, amateur drama companies etc. Suitable for ages 9 - 16.

"You can never bring in a wall."

Recent productions include, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Henry the Fourth Parts 1 and 2, The Winter's Tale, Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night.