A Midsummer Night's Dream
After rehearsing for months, including giving up their lunch times to participate, eight children were able to spend the day performing at Dreamland. As a part of a National celebration, eight local schools all performed extracts from the Play ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ in Margate.
The event took place at a series of ‘pop up’ locations from the Turner Contemporary, to the seafront and into Dreamland. Working into the evening, our actors performed their extract four times to 200 members of the community, local leaders and the press. Their performance demonstrated a deep understanding of the text emotion of characters and an understanding of the play’s roots in comedy. During the day, two of our pupils were filmed in an interview by the Marlowe Theatre to share their enthusiasm for The Bard.
This fantastic day was made possible through our school's links with The Royal Shakespeare Company and a partnership run with King Ethelbert's School and The Marlowe Theatre. Over the year the children at Cliftonville have celebrated Shakespeare's works with several theatre visits, art workshops at the Turner Centre, a visit from an RSC director as well as a Year 5 focus on Shakespeare through Literacy.
Special thanks to all of the children who made this project a success, including our actors but also our costume designers and members of the Shakespeare Club whose continued efforts are greatly appreciated. You are a credit to the school and we are incredibly proud of our talented children. Thanks also to Miss Page who has led this work with the children and to King Ethelbert School for their support and encouragement.