PUPILS from St Louise’s Comprehensive College have been recognised by actors Hugh Dennis, Alfred Enoch and Jan Ravens for their production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Over the past six months, children from 60 primary, secondary and special schools have taken part in the inaugural Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) Film Festival.
Through participation in the project, the St Louise’s pupils have produced their own high-quality abridged Shakespeare films, developing confidence, creativity and resilience in the process.
From June 2021, CSSF and Into Film ran online sessions for teachers, enabling them to run the project with confidence and empower their students. The Festival has offered children and young people the unique opportunity to gain creative technical skills in areas such as lighting, directing, editing and design to bring Shakespeare to life in an innovative new medium.
The CSSF Film Festival was developed out of the need to give children and young people the opportunity to reconnect, rebuild their confidence and collaborate creatively following an unprecedented 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Head of Drama at St Louise’s, Frances Nelson, explained how the school are very proud of their pupils achievements.
“St Louise’s College Drama Department are delighted to have participated in this year’s Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival which celebrates and promotes the plays of William Shakespeare throughout the UK to young people,” she said.
“St Louise’s students from KS3 starred in their original interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which was filmed on green screen technology in the college’s Drama Theatre.
“The finished film premiered in the college on a specially erected cinema screen on Thursday 2 December to the delight of the cast, their family representatives and teachers.
“We are extremely proud of our boys and girls who showcased their amazing talents in this festival. They all rose to the challenge in difficult times and are true stars.”
Francesca Ellis, Head of Creative and Programmes at CSSF, said: “Last year the closure of theatres forced us to re-think how schools would share their work and many chose to film their shows.
“Teachers told us about the new possibilities this opened up for them, such as the SEND school that involved every pupil across the school in the film, the secondary school where Media Studies students led the film shoot, the teenager who is a whizz with editing software and the primary student who gets to call the shots from the director’s chair.
“This develops skills in innovation, problem solving and collaboration, and when their film is screened to the school, as well as to a national audience via our website, the sense of pride and resulting confidence boost is enormous.”
Actor and CSSF supporter Jan Ravens added: “I support CSSF because I want every child to have the opportunity to play with and explore together the lush, complex and incredible world that Shakespeare opens up for them – ambition, conflict, jealousy, resolution – it’s all there for the taking, and those opportunities have been so limited in recent times.”
