On Thursday 22 March at 1pm and 4pm, Notts TV will air a special screening of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, performed by children from the Primary 6 Partnership (Ambleside Primary, Heathfield Primary, Hempshill Hall Primary, Old Basford School and Rosslyn Park Primary), filmed by local production company Spool. The project was supported by Nottingham City Council and ChalleNGe, Nottingham’s Cultural Education Partnership.
The young cast worked with Shakespeare’s text and ideas about power, revenge and forgiveness in their enthusiastic, polished performance of the play.
The screening, called Shake Up, is the culmination of a yearlong programme of activity where the Primary 6 Partnership engaged in curriculum work on the themes, ideas, language and characters in The Tempest, as well as touring their own production of the play in June 2017.
Shake Up is a brilliant opportunity to share the play beyond the 1,400 pupils in the Primary 6 Partnership who saw it live in their schools. It includes a documentary before the performance is shown in full. Being involved in Shake Up gave the pupils a real insight into how film and TV programmes are constructed, from camera work, directing, sound and editing.
The Primary 6 Partnership’s work on Shakespeare doesn’t stop here. The schools in the Primary 6 Partnership became the lead schools for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Nottingham City. Since November 2017, along with four more schools – Haydn Primary, Carrington Primary, Oakfield School and Bluecoat Beechdale Academy – they have been involved in the RSC’s national partnership programme, Associate Schools, working in collaboration with Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham and ChalleNGe. This partnership aims to immerse teachers and students in RSC rehearsal room approaches to teaching Shakespeare, based on the active techniques RSC actors use in rehearsals.
For more information please contact Martha Toogood, ChalleNGe Co-ordinator at Martha.Toogood@collegest.org.uk or Heidi Shewell-Cooper, Primary 6 Partnership Manager at Heidi.Shewell-Cooper@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.