Midsummer comes to Bancroft's Prep in January

26 January 2012

Year 5 and 6 pupils at Bancroft’s Prep School were treated to a visit by the Young Shakespeare Company on Friday 20 January. The group, which specialises in Shakespeare productions for school groups, held the children’s attention for two hours with an engrossing, interactive production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. During the performance, children were invited to act the roles of various characters as well as join in by providing atmospheric sound effects, which they did with enthusiasm, and predicting what happened next. Year 5 pupil Ethan Cohen (aged 9) very nearly stole the show with his non-speaking role of “the wall”: a star in the making? The pupils were totally absorbed by the story and were roaring with laughter at the antics of Shakespeare’s characters. For many of the children it was their very first experience of Shakespeare and when asked whether they had enjoyed the play the resounding, collective “yes” proved that the afternoon had been a big success.

English Co-ordinator at the School, Karen Yelverton said, “‘We book the Young Shakespeare Company every year to do various plays. It’s great introduction to Shakespeare for this age group, and the children were really engrossed by the story. Children love drama and being introduced to Shakespeare in this way helps fire up the children’s imaginations.” The children were equally enthusiastic, ......... (quotation to come from pupil..) The Young Shakespeare Company is one of the foremost educational theatre companies in the UK, currently performing Shakespeare to over 100,000 young people every year.