As it enjoys a second season in York at the foot of historic Clifford’s Tower, SHAKESPEARE’S ROSE THEATRE – the award-winning pop-up Shakespearean theatre – has welcomed 4,749 school children and their teachers through its doors, from more than 100 schools across the North of England.
Pupils and teachers from as far afield as York, Leeds, Manchester, Doncaster, Sheffield, Newcastle, Halifax, Middlesbrough, Bradford, Rochdale, Hull, Sunderland, Scarborough, Knaresborough, Scunthorpe, and Harrogate have enjoyed nine morning performances of Hamlet, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. Many of the pupils were watching Shakespeare performed live for the first time.
Of that total, 2,196 pupils were able to attend for free thanks to generous funding from private donors and charities to the Rose Bursary Scheme, which enables disadvantaged children to enjoy the thrill of live theatre in this historic setting. Every £10 donated enabled a child to attend for free through the Rose Bursary Scheme.
The York season of SHAKESPEARE’S ROSE THEATRE runs until Sunday 1 September 2019, with four new productions: Hamlet, Henry V, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. SHAKESPEARE’S ROSE THEATRE has also expanded this year to a second site in the UK, in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, with a nine week season running until 7 September, where two companies are performing the repertoire of plays from the first season in York: Romeo & Juliet, Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth.
Similarly, at SHAKESPEARE’S ROSE THEATRE at Blenheim Palace, there have been eight morning performances specifically for schools, which have been enjoyed by 3930 pupils and teachers from 6 schools across Oxfordshire. The Rose Bursary scheme enabled 198 of those to attend for free, thanks to funding from the Pye Charitable Settlement Trust.
James Cundall MBE, founder of SHAKESPEARE’S ROSE THEATRE and CEO of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions said, “One of our key aims is to offer comprehensive support for school groups. We believe that all young people should have the opportunity to attend outstanding theatre, irrespective of their cultural, social or economic background. Therefore, this year once again we ran the Rose Bursary Scheme which enabled schools who would not otherwise be able to visit Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre to apply for free tickets.”
“We hope to ignite their imaginations and open their minds to the wonderful experience of live theatre, in a setting that will also be memorable, bringing history to life.”
One of the teachers from Henworth Primary school said, “I was a member of staff accompanying a class of Y 4/5 children from Heworth School to see The Tempest, one of whom is my daughter, who said: “It was amazing!! I really understood the story and I LOVED the set and the songs! My favourite character was Trincolo, but I also really liked Ariel.”
“As a staff member I thought it was an outstanding production and really accessible for the children who were watching it. The children were engrossed throughout and loved the whole experience: the setting, the staging, the costumes, the music – everything!”
