Shakespeare Schools
Shakespeare School festivals and Drumbeat School have been working together for over two years to offer exciting, creative and original drama experiences for our students across Key Stage Three. Children are able to take part in the drama project through access to a school drama club, Shakespeare workshops run by Shakespeare School Festival and eventually put on a performance of a Shakespeare play at The Albany Theatre.
In 2018 students retold the story of Macbeth through music, dance, drama and art. It was a momentous opportunity for many of the students who got to share their hard work with their friends and family. The enrichment for all of our students was profound. Children were able to harness their creativity while some children were able to take other important roles such as director or photographer. Children developed skills in their speech clarity, speech volume, vocabulary development and confidence to deliver a performance to a large group of people. This project enabled opportunities for a diverse range of our students to work collaboratively on a creative and enriching project.
In 2019 Key Stage Three students created a modern day retelling of Romeo and Juliet which included tackling current challenges for young people living in London. Children retold the story through dance, drama, art while delivering an important and powerful message about knife and gang crime in an inner London today.
There are varied roles for students to try including; supporting back stage, creating props in art and technology sessions, contributing to the music, while others can take to centre stage to perform a retelling of a famous play. Many of our students make excellent progress in other areas of the Drumbeat Curriculum as a result of this.
Well what can we say, the cast of Romeo and Juliet performed with professionalism and had the audience laughing and in tears. The Shakespeare Schools Festival is a truly positive learning experience for our learners and the community alike. We also received some
amazing feedback after the performance from the audience of other schools and we
wanted to share this feedback with you:
“Hi,
Just emailing to say how much I enjoyed Monday’s performance of Romeo and Juliet at The Albany. I was there watching one of the other schools and thought your performance was a fantastic adaptation. As a Catford resident I particularly enjoyed the local references!
Congratulations to all the cast and staff involved.
Martin Crick”
“Dear staff and students at Drumbeat,
To the students: I wanted to say a HUGE congratulations for your excellent performance of Romeo and Juliet at the theatre this evening.
Your play was beautifully acted and very touching. You gave such a strong message of love and hope - that talking save lives. You were all very confident on the stage - well done!! Keep up the wonderful acting.
To the staff: what a privilege it was to see you in action with your fantastic pupils. You show such a dedication and the work you’ve done with your students was incredible. Keep doing what you do, because it’s really special. We need more heroes like you all!
Thank you for performing.
Ed”
It was a great evening and we hope to continue these performances in the future.
Many thanks for all your support!
Amanda Sharman
Teacher-Director