Shakespeare's plays are so cool Shakespeare is one of England's crown jewels, a playwright admired all over the world who brings tourists flocking to our shores, despite leaving us for the great stage in the sky nearly 400 years ago.

And yet, apart from knowing that he was born in Stratford, how many of us have truly enjoyed a Shakespeare play, understood the depth of his talent, appreciated our cultural heritage? The impression that many have of the Bard is that, rather like All Bran, it is good for you without being especially enjoyable.

However, last Wednesday, armies of Derby schoolchildren saw this idea turned upside down as they witnessed an all-singing, all-dancing version of Macbeth.

Shakespeare 4 Kidz, a theatre company devoted to helping children learn to love Shakespeare, came to the Assembly Rooms for a sell-out show, and more than 1,000 youngsters discovered that Shakespeare could be fun - honestly.

Shakespeare 4 Kidz chief executive director Julian Chenery is passionate about the cause: "We have developed a way of getting children as young as primary school age interested in Shakespeare and we have been very successful.

"I remember when England was promoting itself on the back of Beckham, The Spice Girls and Shakespeare, but if you went on to Derby high street, 90 per cent of the people wouldn't know the plot of Macbeth." That's not the case, thankfully, for the hundreds of Derbyshire youngsters who witnessed last week's child-friendly Macbeth. The characters, plot and much of the Bard's language remained but everything else was engineered to make the play more accessible and amusing for children. With dancing witches, a pantomime Porter and superb songs skillfully incorporated into the fabric of the play, this performance concentrated on entertainment rather than the less appealing tragic conventions of fear and awe.

Zoe House, an English teacher at Lees Brook Community Sports College, Chaddesden took a group of pupils along and was suitably impressed: "The longer speeches are set to music which makes them easier to remember." Her pupils were enthusiastic too: "It's better than I expected and easier to understand," said Samantha Trowbridge (13).

Will Mackenzie (13) added his thoughts: "This makes it easier to visualise the play. It's very different to sitting in class.
"There is a lot of information to take in but the Porter really gave the play some humour," said Tom Mackenzie (13).

For those of you more familiar with TV's Back to Reality than the Porter's scene in Macbeth, it's a comic interlude (yes, Shakespeare has those) featuring a drunken gatekeeper. Although departing dramatically from the original, this scene performed exactly the same function. Charged with slapstick, the audience of predominantly 13 and 14 year olds appreciated the light relief.
For teachers who have been trying to make the Bard's plays more accessible, Shakespeare 4 Kidz Macbeth is a Godsend.
Brought up on Ant and Dec, muscle-bound super heroes and James Bond stunts, they have grown accustomed to violence, action and a touch of vulgarity in the guise of toilet humour. What often doesn't come across in the classroom is that Shakespeare has all three in spades.

One youngster who has discovered that, both on and off stage, is Littleover's Adriano Corgiolu (10). He played MacDuff's son in the Shakespeare 4 Kids production at the Assembly Rooms.

The theatre company invites a local youngster to take part in their shows in every town and city it visits.
Despite his tender years, Adriano likes Shakespeare's work: "It's got a different language, emotion, romance and drama." And what about all the violence and murder? "They're my favourite parts," says the youngster, who has been shortlisted for a part in a forthcoming Derby Playhouse production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I can relate to what Adriano has to say. As a child, I was lucky enough to have a comic book version of Macbeth. What attracted me to this volume was not the timeless plot of power, corruption and the supernatural, it had more to do with the fact that the front cover pictured the eponymous anti-hero's severed head being held up by its gory locks.

Most people are not so lucky when having their first encounter with Shakespeare through books. Blank verse can reflect blank faces. Iambic pentameter? "Didn't he have a trial with the Rams, Miss?" Shakespeare 4 Kidz puts the play where it belongs, in a form that youngsters can understand and, more importantly, enjoy.

However, this Macbeth has not been dumbed down. It will not lead to a sub-genre of pantomime Shakespeare: Peter Andre playing the Dane, wracked with self-doubt and indecision; Gary Wilmot's cheeky cockney Othello cheerfully choking Jade Goody's Desdemona or maybe even John Inman as King Lear, bringing new resonance to the line "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks" during the climactic storm scene.

Even a real Shakespeare zealot would have trouble picking fault with the Shakespeare 4 Kidz Macbeth. Great care has been taken to ensure that, when the production does veer from the original dialogue, it stays unerringly true to the play's spirit.
Shakespeare 4 Kidz Macbeth is eerily atmospheric, genuinely original, truly entertaining and stealthily educational.

If the aim is to give kids a theatrical foot in the Shakespearean door, it has succeeded.