Durban gearing up for Shakespeare Schools Festival
The fifth Shakespeare Schools Festival will be at The Playhouse Theatre in September.
DURBAN schools are gearing up for the fifth Shakespeare Schools Festival to be held from 3 to 5 September at The Playhouse Theatre.
Schools participating in this year’s Playhouse Company are Westville Girls’ High School, Westville Boys’ High School, Pinetown Girls’ High School, Mowat Park High School, RSPA Theatre School, Chelsea Preparatory School, Haythorne Secondary School and Hilton College.
The rapidly-growing festival is set to further enhance learners performing skills while also empowering them to fully understand English literature from an early age.
The festival was established in the United Kingdom as an additional education programme, aimed at improving language and social skills through the performing arts. Each year, the festival encourages schools to perform 30-minute versions of Shakespearean plays in their local professional theatres, thereby giving them a platform to voice their creativity to a captive audience and, alongside that opportunity, to broaden their horizons by experiencing the magic of live theatre, professional lighting and with an audience.
The Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa was initiated and coordinated by Educape with the aim of providing a fantastic opportunity for youth to explore their potential in a fun and developmental way.
Cast workshops were recently held where participating schools and their teachers got a chance to meet each other, engage in general drama activities and certain exercises that are examples of rehearsal moments. It gives learners an opportunity to create and present an original drama on a professional stage while also learning the discipline to being a performer.
“The dramatic increase in feedback compared to previous years shows that more participants than before are beginning to realise that access to the arts is a fundamental human right and that theatre can contribute significantly to human development and motivation,” said Kseniya Filinova-Bruton, Festival Director for the Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa.
“We believe that children who are given the opportunity to fall in love with the theatre experience at an early age will be the generation that secures the future of our theatre industry.”
For more information on the festival and ticket bookings (through Computicket), contact Themba Mzondi on 078 113 5216 or e-mail themba@sceproductions.co.za.
