Annabelle tells us how excited she was to perform in the Stratford-upon-Avon Playmaking Festival.

Annabelle is a student at Alveston C of E Primary School. She performed in the Playmaking Festival: Stratford-upon-Avon, in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre alongside students from local schools. 

When we found out that we were doing Much Ado About Nothing, our class became very hyper and excited.

First, as a class we got to know more about the play and how the characters relate to each other. We then acted out the script in small groups as a form of mini audition so our teacher could cast the children who wanted speaking parts into those roles. Once we found out our parts, we started to rehearse and practise our lines.

After we had a rough idea of what we were doing, we then had Nicky, Ru and Sophie from the RSC come to help us get better and add more detail. I was feeling nervous when they came and I thought having a speaking part put pressure on me but it was so much fun and with their help our play came together so well.

We worked hard and rehearsed on both hot and rainy days. As the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a thrust stage, we marked out the space in our hall and on the playground using four chairs to mark out the entrances and exits.

I was shocked at how quickly some of the people with lots of lines learned them, it was amazing.

Annabelle

It was awesome!

On the day, we walked to the theatre from school and took part in a tech rehearsal.

This was our chance to see the wings and layout of the stage for real and gather our props – this was where the nerves really kicked in. We were all shaking and saying break a leg to each other which is acting speak for good luck.

When it came to the performance, I danced at the hen party as Hero got ready for the wedding and said, “She knows the heat of a luxurious bed” in the wedding scene. It was awesome!

Once we got back to our seats, we watched the last two schools perform and they were fantastic at doing their dancing. After the performance, we all bowed and congratulated each other. Now all I want to be is an actress.

 

National Playmaking Festival_ 2022_2022_Photo by Sara Beaumont _c_ RSC_331804
The set of Playmaking Festival 2022
Photo by Sara Beaumont © RSC Browse and license our images
Playmaking_Festival_Logo_22_RGB_72dpi

 

 

You may also like