The English Speaking Union ran their Performing Shakespeare Grand Final in June, and ODUK Co-Founder Karen Latto wrote this blog on how the event went and how you can enter your school into next year’s competition.
On Friday the 23rd of June students gathered at the Globe Theatre in London ahead of the ESU’s Performing Shakespeare grand final. This competition is for 11 to 14 year olds (year 7 to 9 – key stage 3) and is an annual event open to all schools in England and Wales.
The competition runs in stages, starting as a competition in your own school. Students prepare a monologue or duologue from any Shakespeare play up to three minutes in length. They also prepare an introduction to their performance up to two minutes long. This includes which scene they have chosen, any personal significance the scene may have to them and their artistic interpretation of the piece (great practice for GCSE!)
The competition is in four rounds; in school, local, regional and grand final rounds. All the students performing today have perfected their pieces throughout the rounds. All participants of the regional and grand final also received acting coaching workshops by professional Theatre Makers.
The day started for the performers with their acting workshop at the Globe Theatre. For us in the audience, we met in the Underglobe for refreshments. This is an incredible performance space, with a prop tree built into the centre of the room and beautiful decorations on the ceiling. A small stage sits at one end. If the Globe built Drama Studios, this would be the ultimate one!
The performances were in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with a capacity of approximately 300 audience members. Performing Shakespeare on one of the Globe stages must be nerve-wracking for even the most experienced young performer. The audience took their seats and the anticipation built. The beautiful stage was bare apart from two chairs to comply with the rules of the competition; no set (except one chair per performer), no props and no costumes, just blacks or uniforms.
The participants entered the theatre to take their seats next to the audience and the nerves looked under control. They were ready for their moment. The 12 performances for the grand final were compered by Jen Stone. Introducing the afternoon in Shakespearean English she described how the performers had learned how to be listened to and how to listen through the competition; a key life skill. This was followed by Lucy Cuthbertson welcoming the audience. She was so excited to see young people interacting with Shakespeare plays. She described how they are now theirs to take and there for the next generation to make their own.
The performers all performed with no mics, performing to a wall of faces that they couldn’t see due to the lighting in the theatre. There were a range of pieces chosen from The Tempest to Macbeth, As You Like It as well as Julius Caesar. The introductions ranged from funny, witty double acts to heartfelt personal stories about inspirational grandmothers. There was something for everyone.
Then on to the competition! Everyone’s performances were amazing. This was a very talented group of individuals who performed so well, to the best of their abilities. This was a very difficult choice for the judges. As well as the judges awards for a runner-up and a competition winner, there was the Don Miller audience choice award. The audience watched on with their voting slips. It was a very difficult decision to make.
Finishing on such a high, after such an incredible group of performances, it was time for the judges to deliberate and the audience to make their vote. One of my favourite performances was George and Archie performing Macbeth Act V Scene iii. With a lot of physical theatre and use of stage combat this was the audience favourite and the pair won the audience award. Another of my favourites by Eli from As You Like It, the seven ages of man speech (Act II Scene vii). This was such a poignant performance, the two people in front of me had tears in their eyes. In the final moments, you could hear a pin drop!
So… to the results – after feedback from the judges, who all agreed the performance level was exceptionally high and they found it difficult to choose a winner, the winner was a pair of sisters, Ishvari and Kishori, performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act III scene ii. Their performance was witty and mesmerizing and their sisterly comradery came through in their performance of 2 best friends. The runner-up was Eli, the second of my favourite performance.
Registration is open for next years competition and I would highly recommend entering if you are looking for a way to develop oracy and performance in your school or department. The support materials are really useful and all the criteria is provided for judging in school. For more information see the ESU’s website here: https://www.esu.org/competitions/performing-shakespeare/