 Shakespeare 4 Kidz News
Here you can keep up to-to-date with all the latest news from S4K.
Check back here to find the latest news on casting, touring dates, international touring and news about S4K's Creative Shakespeare Education programme, the latest FREE Teachers resources and news about the different ways you can stage our shows.
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It's Macbeth for Kidz
THE notorious Scottish Play – Macbeth - gets the Shakespeare 4 Kidz treatment next week at Lancaster Grand Theatre.
It's full of weird witches and spooky spells that make Harry Potter and his friends look like amateurs. There are bloody battles, gruesome ghosts and even a forest which moves.
And because many theatre folk believe the play to be jinxed lots of celebrities have been sending the company good luck wishes, including Stephen Fry, Joe Pasquale and West End actor Jonathan Pryce, who had his own bad luck stories to tell after playing Macbeth.
The S4K Macbeth has been very well received each of the five times it has toured since its premiere in 2000.
Creator Julian Chenery said: "The famous curse is something we've had our share of in the past.
"In the autumn of 2000 we had incessant rain for three months which affected all of our get-ins and get-outs; a national fuel strike which made it nigh impossible to move the production around the UK; the actor playing Banquo hit his head on the windscreen of the cast coach; the actor playing King Duncan went down with Bell's Palsy making half his face freeze; and one of the stage crew walked into a door and fractured her skull. Apart from that the show was a huge hit and has remained immensely popular ever since!"
Shakespeare 4 Kidz plays use the most famous lines from the original texts, weave them into modern language, and add some songs and dances into the mix.
The whole plot is retained and all the major characters are there too.
Macbeth plays the Grand on Friday, September 18 at 10.30am and 1.30pm. Tickets priced £16/£9.50 for children are on sale now from the box office on 64695.
CLICK HERE to see the original article on the Lancaster Guardian website
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Cumbrian kid to tread the boards in Shakespeare's Macbeth
By Kelly Eve
The name alone can strike fear into an actor but the excitement of appearing in a professional production of the notorious Scottish play is mounting for nine-year-old Toby Collard.
Toby, who lives with his family near Caldbeck, is busy learning his lines for Macbeth after he was invited to play a key role in the Shakespeare 4 Kidz production being staged in Carlisle next Thursday.
It will be Toby’s biggest stage show to date since developing a love for theatre three years ago.
Watching him will be his proud parents Jennifer and Andy, and his year five and six classmates from Fell View School in Caldbeck.
They are among the hundreds of children from schools across north Cumbria who are due to flock to the Sands Centre to watch Thursday’s two performances.
Toby was nominated for the role of Macduff’s son by his theatre school principal Naomi Bewsher.
He is a member of her Stagecoach school and rehearses every Saturday at Richard Rose Central Academy’s performing arts centre in Lismore Place, Carlisle.
He is also a member of Caldbeck Players with productions of Wind in the Willows and Puss in Boots under his belt.
Toby’s mother Jennifer said: “We’ve taken him to the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick since he was a little boy and he’s developed his interest from that.
“He’s also a member of Stagecoach and goes every Saturday morning. He’s been in little bits and pieces since he started but nothing like this. He’s also doing some of his theatre and stage exams.
“He’s been sent a script and DVD of the production and Toby has to show up next week to have a rehearsal and be ready to do it.”
She added: “Macbeth is quite gruesome and dark as a play but this production has been adapted for children in the audience.
“Toby is very excited about it. His school had already bought tickets to go before Toby was even asked to do the role but now it’ll be great to think his friends will be there watching him too.”
Naomi Bewsher, principal of Stagecoach in Carlisle, said: “Students are exposed to a wide variety of text and script during their weekly drama lesson and this has given Toby the stage discipline, knowledge and confidence, making him a wonderful young actor.
“He was also very successful within his recent Lamda examination which we offer at Stagecoach and was awarded our ‘Most Promising’ trophy for his continued commitment to his dance, singing and acting classes.
“I’m very proud of Toby and wish him well for his forthcoming performance.”
Shakespeare 4 Kidz is currently touring the country with Macbeth and they say the tale of ‘weird witches and spooky spells’ make Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts ‘look like amateurs’.
The company states that the whole plot of the Bard’s original play is retained.
It tells the story of the murderous Scottish warrior Macbeth who is encouraged by three witches and his evil wife to remove every obstacle in his quest to become king.
CLICK HERE to see the full story on the Cumberland News website
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Blood-soaked tale of Scottish warrior given 4Kidz treatment
DO your children want to know more about the famous Bard?
William Shakespeare's notorious Scottish play – Macbeth – gets the Shakespeare4Kidz treatment this autumn when the touring theatre company visits Grimsby Auditorium.
Spokeswoman Di Eccleston said: "It's full of weird witches and spooky spells that make Harry Potter and his friends look like amateurs. There are bloody battles, gruesome ghosts and even a forest that moves.
"Because many theatre folk believe the play to be jinxed, lots of celebrities have been sending the company good luck wishes, including Stephen Fry, King of the Jungle Joe Pasquale and West End actor Jonathan Pryce, who had his own bad luck stories to tell after playing Macbeth.
He said: "Shakespeare4Kidz plays use the most famous lines from the original texts, weave them into modern language, add some songs and dances into the mix and the result is a two hour entertainment which everyone – even the youngest primary kids – can understand.
"The plot is retained and all the major characters are there too, to tell the blood-soaked story of the murderous Scottish warrior who, egged on by the prophecies of three weird witches and the ambitions of his evil wife, removes every obstacle in his path until he can seize the throne for himself."
Macbeth is being performed at the Auditorium at 10.30am and 1.30pm on Monday, September 28. Tickets cost £16 (£9.50 kidz) from the box office in person, on 0844 847 2426 or at www.grimsbyauditorium.org.uk
CLICK HERE to see the original article on the This is Grimsby website
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Five Reasons To See...Shakespeare For Kidz: Macbeth
Shakespeare For Kidz - the innovative theatre company which makes the Bard accessible to young people are back in the region this month, with their version of Macbeth. Here, Di Eccleston from S4K they give us her five reasons why you should deffo go along.
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1.The story.
Macbeth is a brilliant story about a Scottish warrior who meets three witches and finds out his destiny is to become king of Scotland. But before he can get to the throne he must murder the men who stand in his way, aided and abetted by his evil wife. All the characters are included in this full-scale version.
2. The creativity.
This musical adaptation features lots of great songs and dances from the vibrant cast of professional performers plus some stunning sword fights.
3. The atmosphere.
The show features weird witches, gory ghosts, bloody battles and even a forest which moves. There’s lots of rumbling thunder and a parade of spooky apparitions as Macbeth learns his future from the gruesome threesome.
4. The cast
The 14-stong cast and live musicians make this an exciting show. Jason Lee Scott is a mesmerising Macbeth and Kirk Barker as Macduff has already earned himself the nickname Macbuff…see the show and you’ll see whyAnd have a giggle with Noel Andrew Harron as the funny, joke-telling porter.
5. The edu-tainment value
Writers Julian Chenery (director) and Matt Gimblett have cleverly laced the most famous of Shakespeare’s lines (like “Is this a dagger which I see before me?” and “Something wicked this way comes”) into modern language so the story is easy to understand for audiences of all ages. S4K hope this production will demystify the Bard and whet everyone’s appetite to go on and study this and other Shakespeare plays in greater depth.
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S4K present Macbeth at the Palace Theatre on Mon 14 and Tues 15 September.
- by Glenn Meads
CLICK HERE to see the original feature on the What's On Stage website
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