24 primary and secondary schools will be treading the boards over six nights at Greenwich Theatre as part of the nationwide Shakespeare Schools Festival. Four schools each night will perform shortened versions of the bard’s work from November 4-9 inclusive.

Corelli College in Kidbrooke, already well known for their own acclaimed productions at the theatre, will be performing  (The Reel) Macbeth on Thursday, November 7 at 7pm in a fashion that director Lucy Cuthbertson calls “a bit off the wall”. She said: “I think because I have directed a lot of big shows for the school, I can only get excited if we do something unusual. So we’re trying to do Macbeth through the medium of the Scottish reel with lots of dancing.”

Corelli, London’s first co-operative academy, first got involved as Kidbrooke School in 2001 when it was a competition and the school won with a comical version of Hamlet. “We went on to perform it at the Duke of York Theatre,” said Lucy. “The festival is a good introduction for students to handle Shakespeare and realise there is nothing to be scared of. They can handle the language as long as they have good teachers and directors.”

Eighteen students from Year 8 to Year 11 will be taking part, including one who is doing the sound. Lucy said: “We’ve been involved five or six times now. They really enjoy it and because it’s only half an hour they have to know the full-length play properly and then make the cut-down version work for an audience.”

Year 6 pupils at Boxgrove primary school in Abbey Wood will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Tuesday, November 5, directed by actress/musician Lucy Timmons. Lucy said: “It’s an amazing opportunity for the children, giving them the chance to study the beautiful language of one of Britain’s greatest playwrights and perform in an amazing theatre.”

Greenwich Theatre director James Haddrell said: “The festival is an incredible national initiative to give children and young people the chance to perform Shakespeare in a professional theatre, and to work with industry professionals to help them really understand and enjoy the plays they’re performing.

“There really is something magical about hearing young children perform Shakespeare in a way that proves they really do understand what they’re saying. Seeing Shakespeare tackled by a young cast like this always brings the plays to life in a new way for me, showing me something I might not have noticed before.”


Six other Greenwich schools – secondaries Eltham Hill, The John Roan, St Ursula’s, Thomas Tallis and the Harris Academy, and primary Plumcroft – will be performing at the theatre in Crooms Hill.

For full performance details go to www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk/shakespearefestival