'A Midsummer Night's Dream' - Love In Idleness

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ – Love In Idleness

What do you get if you mix sixty ten year olds, Yorkshire accents, tiny voices and a lot of hard work? Not so much a nightmare as a rather brilliant dream – ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in fact.  Last week FINDING THE WILL had the absolute pleasure of working with Montagu Academy in Mexborough, South Yorkshire for the fifth year in a row.  Historically the Year 6 children have performed a tragedy (Macbeth, Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet) so it was about time they (not to mention the staff) had a bit of a laugh – and thanks to some cracking performances from the young actors, they certainly did.  The Dream is full of humour – people falling in love with the wrong person, good intentions going wrong because someone’s got hold of the wrong end of the stick, people just doing their best in a world that seems a bit unfair. Although written 400 years ago, there are some definite parallels with life in 2016. And for all of us involved last week (children, teachers, teaching assistants, support staff, FINDING THE WILL) there were even more lessons to be learned.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Back Drop

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Back Drop

Firstly the obvious.  This lovely backdrop and the prop flowers as pictured above were made by the children (with a lot of help from Mrs Stinson) in the Art Club. Love in Idleness (pansies to you and I), painting techniques, a paper maché donkey mask and ivy garlands were all created as part of the Shakespeare Project Week.  Working with only one year group (as opposed to three or four) meant that some children had to double up and be in more than one scene. Extra lines and moves to learn in two days if you’re lucky – not something I would have felt particularly at ease doing when I was ten. So lots of focus and listening was required throughout the week – easier for some children than others of course, but how proud are we of those in particular who don’t usually exhibit these skills.  The sheer act of trying, pushing themselves to their limits, trusting that the support would be there to catch them if they ‘fell’ was heartwarming and a lesson for us all about what a full rounded education really means. And while we’re on the subject, what are your thoughts on this?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jeremy-newton/pupil-premium_b_3013272.html

I’d love to hear what you think so send us your thoughts @FINDINGTHEWILL1  https://www.facebook.com/FINDINGTHEWILL/posts   And all at Montagu Academy, take a bow! The children, our actors, were a credit to the school, and particularly you, the Year 6 staff.

And now it’s time to introduce our next Associate Practitioner. This is Mark Denham:

Mark Denham

Mark Denham Associate Practitioner

Mark is a RADA trained actor with a masters in applied theatre who has worked on a broad range of theatre in the UK and abroad.  Based in London he enjoys supporting and leading as a practitioner in drama and mixed arts practices with young people in a range of settings, including young people with disabilities and autism. Mark will be making his debut with FINDING THE WILL during Shakespeare Week 2017.

Now I’ve not even got on to our performance of ‘Bard Heads’ at the end of our magical Mexborough week, so for now, I’ll just reassure you that it was a success!  Thanks to Sue at The GAF Centre, Bursledon and Hog The Limelight for hosting us on Saturday night – happy to come back in the future and perform the other four shows in the collection! More ‘Bard Heads’ news in November after our second visit to Whiteparish Primary School near Salisbury – from Yorkshire comedy to Wiltshire tragedy with ‘Romeo & Juliet’.  Speak again soon “Parting is such sweet sorrow”……….

 

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