Shakespeare 4 Kidz News

FROM THE SURREY MIRROR - 23 September 2010

FANTASTICAL FUN

Fairies and fun, royalty and romance, magic and misunderstandings: A Midsummer Night's Dream has them all and more.So, little wonder this enchanting play, showing in Dorking next month, is one of the most popular ever written.

The Bard’s comedy gets a magical transformation from Shakespeare 4 Kidz, whose musical version has proved a huge hit every time it has toured.

Who can resist the fabulous story of a Duke marrying his Amazonian queen, two sets of lovers who elope into the woods where the audience finds feuding fairies and a naughty sprite called Puck, whose mismanaged magic causes no end of hilarity?

Bottom (surely the best name for a comedy character ever!) is one of theatre’s funniest roles. Audiences are guaranteed a great laugh when Puck’s prank puts an asses head onto him and fairy queen Titania wakes up and promptly falls in love with him.

The Dream is one of six S4K titles, following on from the 2009/10 national and international hit tour of Macbeth.

Every S4K show uses the whole Shakespearean plot but uses only the most famous original lines and slots them into modern language so that everyone – even the youngest primary school children – can understand.

Every S4K show uses the whole Shakespearean plot but uses only the most famous original lines and slots them into modern language so that everyone – even the youngest primary school children – can understand.

Adults in the audience who have previously been baffled by the Bard will find that they can at last understand what it is all about!

This child friendly version of the play visits the Dorking Halls in October

WHAT: Shakespeare 4 Kidz A Midsummer Night's Dream
WHERE: Dorking Halls
WHEN: 1.30 & 7.30 Thursday, October 10; and 10 & 1.30 on FRiday, October 8
TICKETS: Box office 01306 881717

Child Friendly Shakespeare at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple

A musical Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare 4 Kidz is coming to the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple.

Fairies and fun, royalty and romance, magic and misunderstandings: A Midsummer Night’s Dream has them all and more. So, little wonder this enchanting play is one of the most popular ever written.

The Bard’s comedy gets a magical transformation from Shakespeare 4 Kidz, whose musical version has proved a huge hit every time it has toured. There are songs, dances and lots of spellbinding effects as the fairies create a world of wonder in the woods.  Every S4K show uses the whole Shakespearean plot but uses only the most famous original lines and slots them into modern language so that everyone – even the youngest primary school children – can understand.

This child-friendly version of the play visits the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple for four shows in October. Performances are at 1.30pm and 7.30pm on Monday October 18 and 10am and 1.30pm on Tuesday October 19.

A galaxy of S4K celebrity fans have already sent good luck messages for the show:

Dame Judi Dench: (Titania at the Rose in Kingston this year): “I am happy to support any approach that helps children to understand Shakespeare’s plays and to realise that they are about emotions that we all share – love, jealousy, anger etc – all of which can be found in The Dream!”

Dame Helen Mirren:  “Good wishes to Shakespeare 4 Kidz. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the Avatar of Shakespeare, with something to be enjoyed by all age groups, a great message and lots of fun and fantasy. Enjoy!”

Victoria Wood: “Good luck, stay cool – there’s nothing worse than a nervous Bottom!”

Tickets are £16 and £9.50 for a young person. A 60p Love Arts payment also applies to each seat sold. For further information or to book, call the Box Office on 01271 324242 or visit www.northdevontheatres.org.uk

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON THE BARNSTAPLE PEOPLE WEBSITE

Versatility is the name of the game for Antony Stuart-Hicks – known to his friends as Ash.

Leanne Jones and Antony Stuart-Hicks as Tracy and Edna Turnblad in Hairspray in Dubai

He’s recently returned from flouncing about in a frock playing Edna Turnblad in a hit production of the musical Hairspray in Dubai. Now Ash is aging-up to play quintessential Athenian workman Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare 4 Kidz.

Ash, just turned 26, specialises in character roles and loves playing dame in panto. As the youngest professional pantomime dame in the UK, his Christmastime credits include Widow Twankey in Aladdin, Sarah the Cook in Dick Whittingon, Dame Dolly Mixture in Snow White and Lily O’Grady in Cinderella.

His versatility has also extended to playing Colonel Mustard in Cluedo, Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers and Kaa the snake in Jungle Book.

Ash started young in showbiz, becoming a pro at just 11 and has spent the last 15 years as an actor/producer working alongside such eminent professionals as Dame Maggie Smith, Ken Dodd and Susan Penhaligon. He was born in Liverpool, brought up in Crosby and attended Chesterfield High School but now lives in Streatham Hill.

Ash’s previous roles for S4K have largely involved pencilling on the stage-wrinkles to play such parts as Ophelia’s father Polonius in Hamlet and Gonzalo in The Tempest.

This is a return to the part of Quince for S4K. Peter Quince is the workman who has the brainwave of organising his motley bunch of friends into putting on a play to entertain Duke Theseus and his new wife Hippolyta during their wedding celebrations.

He describes Quince as: “Fastidious, acutely organised and a worrier who has an aspiration to be a great director.”

But as anyone familiar with the play will know, the Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe – as enacted by Athenian workmen Bottom and friends -  turns into an hilarious fun-fest.

Ash will also be doubling as another oldie, Hermia’s grumpy dad Egeus.

S4K’s musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream tours the UK from September 14

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON THE TRIPS4SCHOOLS WEBSITE

Professional theatre company, Shakespeare 4 Kidz, spoke to trips4schools regarding their innovative approach to teaching the Bard.

Shakespeare and children are not automatically best friends. The convoluted plots – not to mention the difficult language – of the Bard’s plays mean that most people are a bit scared of them. They don’t understand Shakespeare; they are bored by him and that goes for many adults as well as school children.

Professional theatre company, Shakespeare 4 Kidz, has attempted to change all that. The thousands of students (mostly from primary schools) who are taken in school parties to see S4K plays every year (in the UK as well as overseas) leave theatres complete converts.

S4K has been going for nearly 14 years and in that time has introduced countless young people to the world of Shakespeare via its musical adaptations. The adaptations are the work of Julian Chenery and Matt Gimblett, who have cleverly woven the Bard’s most famous original lines into modern language, so there is no barrier to a complete understanding of the storyline and empathy with the characters.

S4K don’t only invite school children to go to see them in theatres, they go to see the pupils in their own schools all over the country where expert teacher/actors provide individually tailored workshops on each of the company’s six musical adaptations. These are: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (which S4K are currently touring to theatres all around the UK), Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Twelfth Night and Macbeth.

Special needs schools are included too, with each workshop sensitively and appropriately programmed. S4K’s workshops are for all ages and all abilities. From Key Stages one to four, families and staff - everyone can be involved.

Trips4schools.com spoke to the company’s head of education, Rose Blackley, who explained: “For Key Stage one, we focus on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and its similarities to fairy tales. Two workshop leaders will work with up to 100 children for a one hour session, which is fully interactive throughout with some individuals playing lead roles, but with all children involved with group participation.

“At a Key Stage two level, schools can choose from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night. The sessions last for two hours. The workshop leaders will guide up to 40 students per session through the story of the play, using a blend of Shakespeare’s words and modern day English. Again there is scope for everyone to be fully involved throughout.

“For KS3 and KS4 we will work with the schools to tailor the content of our workshop. Again titles available are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet and Twelfth Night but we have also produced specially commissioned workshops on Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice.

We asked Rose if she felt S4K was suitable for children with learning difficulties. She commented: “We are very keen to include everyone and have worked hard to develop our Special Educational Needs workshops. We work closely with schools who book workshops with us to ensure we tailor these sessions direct for the students, working at their pace and bringing sensory props if needed.”

Last year, Shakespeare 4 Kidz formulated one-day cross curricular school experience based on its Macbeth script. Up to 80 children can participate, learn the story and either act and sing or help with sets, props and costumes leading up to a mini performance for family and friends at the end of the school day.

The company told trips4schools that the feedback from the experience has been extremely positive. Now A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been added to the repertoire. Rose told us: “We thought school parties who had booked to see our shows – or were planning to see them – would enjoy the experience of doing a mini version themselves.”

Pupils can pretend to be fairies Titania, Oberon and Puck, funny workmen Bottom and his pals or the feuding lovers who find themselves in the middle of a muddle in the woods outside Athens one midsummer night.

Barley Fields School in Stockton were one of the first to experience their own magical Day Dream. Teachers there reported that the workshop tutors were: “Superb!” and praised the “excellent enthusiasm and professionalism which was very much filtered down to the children and evident in their final performance.”

They thought the content and materials used were excellent and added that it was “a really amazing day which the children got so much from. Special thanks to the tutors who the children were very inspired by.” Rose told us that the school is now looking forward to working with S4K again and has booked a Mini Macbeth and variety of workshops for the new academic year.

“We want young people to love Shakespeare just as much as we do,” said the company’s founder Julian Chenery.

“They can’t do that if they feel alienated by uninspired teaching in a stuffy classroom environment. We bring his plays alive in a very modern way without being disloyal to the spirit of the original.

“Feedback from the schools we visit and who visit us prove that we have got the formula right and we just want as many young people as possible to enjoy Shakespeare the S4K way then go on to study his works in the original when they feel ready.”

For further details about S4K, its theatre programme, education work, play packs or how to book a workshop, Day Dream or Mini Macbeth visit the website which includes teacher resources - including synopses of the plays - comprehension sheets, all sorts of facts and trivia about the titles and fun quizzes.

For further information, telephone: 01342-894548, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or log onto www.shakespeare4kidz.com.