Y9 Shakespeare Event - February 2015

All of Year 9 experienced a fun filled day with Shakespeare Company, Sky Blue Theatre. To start, each half of the year improvised the whole story of Macbeth with a mixture of modern language and direct quotes from the play. The four external actors made this funny and engaging and the use of costume also helped. Working in this upbeat fashion enabled the pupils to know the story ahead of studying it for their GCSE exam in year 11.

The actors then performed some of the more crucial scenes and afterwards asked for direction from the audience. They then performed again making the alterations. Pupils were able to see the different interpretations of the performance and understand character relationships a little more. They also viewed a key scene where the audience had given direction before the performance. This performance made the scene more memorable but also showed the importance of direction and how it can impact an audience’s perception of the scene.

Overall pupils seem less daunted by the prospect of studying Macbeth later this year and again in years 10 and 11.

The Shakespeare workshop was both impressive and entertaining.  The interactive performance did a great job in helping us to remember the storyline of the play and in teaching us some key Shakespeare quotes and lines.  For me, the best part was being able to direct the actors on the stage which showed us how little changes can have a massive effect on the characters and overall atmosphere whilst performing.          Ben S (M01)