Budding thespians from Ely College recently took part in the world’s largest youth drama festival this autumn.
The students were part of a record 280,000 young people to have participated in the Shakespeare Schools Festival, run by Shakespeare Schools Foundation.
Earlier this month the Ey College students performed an abridged adaptation of William Shakespeare’s farcical play, The Comedy of Errors, to a paying audience at the Mumford Theatre in Cambridge.
Sam, who took one of the lead roles this year, said: “I have made a lot of friends around school now and am a lot calmer and happier. I have learned that there is nothing to shy away from. I am proud of what we have achieved.”
Another student added: “I was so nervous on a professional stage but now I just want to do it again and again.”
Kolade Agboke, drama teacher at Ely College, said: “At the college, we work hard to provide a wide variety of opportunities for our students, ensuring they have high aspirations for themselves and go into the world as well rounded individuals capable of anything.
“Over the course of the night our students showed that they have these skills and more as they took on a complex Shakespearian play and made it funny and accessible to their peers, whilst retaining the dialogue and atmosphere that a paying audience fully appreciated. Their hard work shone through and they made us all proud.”
Shakespeare Schools Festival is the world’s largest youth drama project, bringing in over 65,000 people from the local community to the theatre. Of these, 43% say they had never been to their local theatre before.
Shakespeare Schools Foundation chief Ruth Brock says: “Every workplace needs people who are confident and can work as a team and every community needs people who can get on with other people of very different backgrounds.
“Taking part in the festival teaches these things – and, crucially, it helps young people make friends and have fun.”
Ely College is gearing up for a repeat performance of The Comedy of Errors, this time at Needham’s Hall, on December 14.
