Students Perform Shakespeare Showcase

Article Created on Monday, 30 January 2012

Lost souls, evil witches and haunting music were just some of the creations brought to life by students from Treviglas Community College last week during a performance dedicated to the works of William Shakespeare. As part of “Shakespeare Inspires”, a drama showcase performed by secondary school students from around Cornwall, Treviglas students wowed a packed house at the Hall for Cornwall with the festival’s opening and closing segments.

Fifteen schools in all took part in the Jan. 23 event, with each school performing a 10-minute piece based on an excerpt, theme or character from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Other participating schools included Bodmin College, Brannel, Camborne, Redruth, Helston, Humphry Davy, Hayle, St Ives, Newquay Tretherras, Five Islands, Budehaven, Looe and Mullion schools as well as Cornwall Youth Theatre. For their contribution, Treviglas offered up two moving pieces, both inspired by the tragedy “Macbeth”.

Treviglas music students from Year 9 started off the showcase with an original student composition entitled “Twisted Fate” – a song inspired by the themes of greed and self-destruction depicted in the play. The ghostly piece featured nearly 20 students playing a range of instruments including electric drums, keyboards, and even human beat-boxing.

To close the show, Year 10 drama students took to the stage to perform a piece called “Power of Prophesy”. Inspired by the dark prophecy told to Macbeth by the three witches, the powerful scene depicted Macbeth’s downfall culminating with his soul being pulled down into hell. The minimalistic-yet-darkly moving piece featured 17 black-clad students moving in elegant choreography to a chilling electronic score composed by the students themselves.

Treviglas Year 10 student Issac Hicks played Macbeth in the piece and was amazed at how much he learned from what was actually his first time acting on stage.

“I was so nervous before we went on. I’m normally pretty shy,” he said. “But when I was up there, I really got into it. It was such a rush. I loved it.”

Treviglas Drama teacher Katy Lewis said the festival provided a tremendous learning opportunity for all of the students involved.

“The whole process of coming together as a team, creating an original piece of work, rehearsing it and performing it in front a large audience is quite an enriching experience for them,” she said. “It was obvious from their faces when they heard that applause that they knew their hard work had paid off.”

The showcase was coordinated by Kernow Education Arts Partnership (Keap). Amanda Harris, director of Keap, addressed the audience before the show and added: “These young performers get to share work together and take inspiration from each other,” she said. “It’s a chance to really delve into the work of Shakespeare in new and innovative ways and to feel part of a community of theatre makers in Cornwall and beyond.”