When next you’re planning a banquet, royal or otherwise, consider sushi and lemonade as your star attraction. It certainly satisfied the tastebuds of King Macbeth and his Queen in Birmingham this month, but more on that later.
St Cedd’s School, Chelmsford
Nick and I began the month in Greece (well OK, Essex) with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and Year 4 at St Cedd’s School. This independent school was new to us, and our style of workshop was new to them. We all had a lovely day!
There were some fantastic performances from our young (randomly picked as always) volunteers – Hermia’s father, Egeus (in this case played by a female) was particularly noteworthy. Fantastic facial expression and vocal tone really capturing his vexation.
As to Hermia’s dilemma of whether to marry Demetrius as her father wishes, or risk her life and marry Lysander (whom she loves), how about this for a solution:
“Chop up Lysander and put him in Demetrius’ skin, so everyone thinks you’ve married Demetrius but really you have married Lysander”
Now why didn’t Shakespeare think of that? It could have been a precursor to Titus Andronicus!
In the afternoon, Nick and I swapped the royal courts of Greece for the royal courts of Italy. We sailed away from castles and royal banquets onboard ‘The Good Ship Nicer Sardine’. This old fashioned royal ship, sporting blue sails and a pink flag with a white skull on it, set sail to Naples (via Chelmsford) with a crew of Y6 students.
Whenever we run Interactive Workshops on THE TEMPEST these days, the conversation around Prospero taking over the island and enslaving Caliban, seems to take on a whole new significance. It’s always heartening to hear young people articulating Caliban’s birthright to the island over and above Prospero’s power grab. In an ever-changing and unstable world, hearing words like ‘enraged’, ‘unfair’ and ‘frustrated’ in relation to an unrequested and unwelcome occupation, gives us hope for the future – something we all need!
Enormous thanks to Mrs Picking for liaising with me before the day and welcoming us so warmly on the day itself. We hope this first visit will not be the only one!
St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School
How fantastic it was to return for the third year to this friendly, nurturing school. From the moment the gates of St Catherine of Siena were opened for me, I was welcomed back as if I’d never been away! I had a truly lovely day with Y6 and Y5.
We began the day on a bleak Scottish heath where MACBETH encountered the three Weird Sisters (aka 26 of his classmates!). Soon, ambitious Lady Macbeth was organising a right royal ‘last supper’ for King Duncan. This comprised of the King’s favourite dish of turkey, plus lasagne, pasta, crab, caviar, champagne and red wine. Mmm delicious! After the deadly deed, and with all opponents out of the way, King Macbeth and his Queen sat down to a Coronation Banquet of sushi and lemonade. I mean, for all his faults, we can’t lay over-indulgence at Macbeth’s door!
This was my favourite type of workshop, when the children know absolutely nothing about the story at all. The ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, gasps and laughter (oh yes, there’s many a giggle in a Finding the Will Shakespeare tragedy), as they discover the story together, is fantastic to witness.
Year 5, in the afternoon, took me back to Greece and the preparation for the royal wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. It turns out that they planned to wear wedding outfits reminiscent of the Greek flag – Hippolyta in a long white dress and veil, and Theseus in a blue T Shirt and shorts. Absolute trendsetters!
Even though some of the children had a grasp of bits of the story, when Bottom started singing ‘Happy Birthday to me’ and accidentally woke up Titania, there was an audible groan and a lot of giggling – just as Shakespeare intended. Likewise, the final rendition of Pyramus and Thisbe was hilarious! Whether it was Thisbe’s high voice or Snug’s lion ‘grrr’ that did it, we were all laughing at the mayhem created by all the Mechanicals at the end of the play.
Huge thanks to Miss High for seeking me out again and I really hope to return again same time next year!
And now for something completely different…..
Avid readers of this blog might recall that the co-founder of Finding the Will, Richard, is also a brilliant writer. Well he’s turned his hand to a new work called A Woman Moved. Next month, Richard, Angela (associate practitioner) and yours truly will lift it off the page for the first time in a rehearsed reading in Cornwall. I’ll report back next month. Until then, have a right royal relax over the Easter holidays and let me know how the sushi and lemonade goes down…..
