OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 10 November 2011

IN MY last experience of Shakespeare Schools Festival, I wasn’t in the audience, but on stage.

THIS was a huge departure from my standard involvement in the school’s drama club, which mostly consisted of roles in musicals like Copacobana, so I have some idea of what a significant event this can be for young people. 

Since 2000, SSF has enabled 100,000 young people from across the UK to perform on stage in what is now the largest youth drama festival in the UK.

Scene from an earlier Shakespeare Schools Festival production of Romeo & Juliet

While the charity’s first purpose is obviously to allow school children to engage with Shakespeare, it also aims to provide them with indispensable skills such as articulacy, teamwork and peer leadership.

Taking part this year at Eden Court were Charleston Academy, Inverness Royal Academy and Gordonstoun School, who offered varied interpretations of Shakespeare classics. Charleston opened with their performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Packed with sharp dialogue and appealing characters, this is a perfect choice for a school production. The performers evidently had a lot of fun, particularly in the banter between Lysander and Demetrius, and the comic scenes involving Bottom and Tatania.

Inverness Royal Academy took a different approach by presenting three separate monologues from Hamlet, A Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet instead of an abridged play. These three contrasting soliloquies sat well together, and gave the performers a chance to really get to grips with the script without any distractions. Calum Smith’s portrayal of Capulet was particularly strong, and was a really captivating performance. An important feature of SSF is the fact that the scripts learnt will remain with the performers for long after the curtains have closed, and in years to come, they will (hopefully) still be able to recite passages of Shakespeare by heart.

Gordonstoun School closed the evening with their quirky rendering of The Tempest. It was a bold and inventive performance, with the use of several actors for most of the parts. Gordonstoun differed from the two other schools in having their own technical team, which they took full advantage of. Fortunately, the inclusion of songs and a lights display complemented, rather than detracted from, the actor’s performances. The creative use of three actors under a single cloak in the part of the creature Caliban was especially effective, as it introduced a whole extra comic dimension to the part.

Performing Shakespeare in front of hundreds of people is a daunting thought for nearly everyone, but it is something that this year’s participants in SSF seemed to take in their stride. Aside from obviously enjoying themselves hugely, they will take home a new found confidence and understanding of theatre that might not have been possible without the charity’s dedicated input.

© Rowan Macfie, 2011

Links

• Shakespeare School Festival