No Winter of Discontent as Students Receive Rave Reviews at Shakespeare Festival

Posted 29th November 2017

Incredible composure, confidence and professionalism on and off the stage, were just some of the positive and encouraging comments Denbigh students received, following their performances of ‘Richard III’ and ‘Measure for Measure’ at this year’s Shakespeare Festival.

The Venue in MK was where Denbigh played to a packed audience, alongside Walton High and Loughton School, who staged and acted in ‘A Comedy of Errors’ and ‘Macbeth’.

At the end of all of the performances, the casts were invited on stage to receive feedback from one of the Shakespeare Schools Foundation actors. Of Richard III, he congratulated the students on their “sense of scale of emotion from the intimate to big moments” and on their “great characterisation”.

The students that performed in ‘Measure for Measure’ were complimented on them being great storytellers, as each word was delivered with “great clarity”. They were also commended for their “mature composed delivery and use of the text”.

The annual drama festival is organised by the Shakespeare Schools Foundation (SSF). The cultural education charity’s aim is to give young people across the UK the confidence to succeed in life. Every year they work with thousands of students to instill curiosity, empathy, literacy and the confidence to see that all the world is their stage.

Headteacher, Andy Squires, who attended the evening performance, said:

“There was so much interest from our students in the festival this year, that the audience were treated to Denbigh performing in two Shakespeare plays, rather than the one production in previous years. We were also fortunate to have enough students to provide additional stage management support, which included lighting design.

“The School’s Performing Arts faculty has dedicated staff who understand the value of drama. The confidence and self-esteem it gives our students, both as performers and individuals is apparent.”