As part of the RSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival children from across the country have been performing two versions of Hamlet, one a sensory story and the other performed in sections and woven together.
RSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckIain Duck
This year’s festival at the Swan Theatre focused on inclusivity and Tuesday’s sensory performance was devised and presented by teachers and students from Welcombe Hills School, Stratford. It involved a simple narrative accompanied by sensory experiences to stimulate sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. The aim was to allow access to Hamlet in a more inclusive way and also included chill-out zones and adjustments to lighting and sound.
The second performance included children from schools in Warwickshire, Northampton, Stoke-on-Trent, County Durham and Kent.
RSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain Duck
Festival creative director Paul Ainsworth said: “This year’s Playmaking Festival in Stratford has focused on inclusivity and transparency to ensure that all schools and every young person we work with can feel part of the story and the theatre making process. But we also wanted to emphasise the theatrical elements of the story because with Hamlet ‘the play’s the thing’.”
RSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain Duck
The final festival performance of Hamlet will be at the Swan Theatre, Stratford tomorrow (12th July) between 3pm and 4.30pm.
RSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain DuckRSC’s annual schools’ Playmaking Festival saw young people take to the Swan Theatre stage on Tuseday to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Photo: Iain Duck
