Success at the English-Speaking Union

The English-Speaking Union and Prendergast have been running Performing Shakespeare for several years and it was an absolute joy to be able to run it again this year. The club endeavours to improve speaking and listening skills and to instil confidence in pupil’s oracy skills with a chance to perform in the heart of London.

There was a lot of interest and several students from KS3 came along every Monday to rehearse a Shakespearean monologue or duologue that they had chosen. We had amazing performances from As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and Midsummer’s Night Dream.

The English-Speaking Union watched the girls perform and chose to take three of the remarkable performances through to Regionals. They were commended for their ability to take on the Shakespearean language and their confidence in performing their characters so convincingly. Millie Spencer, Lola Espiga-Ventura, Amity Livingstone-Franks, Millie Watson and Rose Adrian were lucky enough to earn a place at Dartmouth House. It was such a lovely afternoon taking them to Mayfair to participate in drama activities, meet students from other schools around London and perform in front of three esteemed judges.

The audience were not envious of the judges having to take only two acts through to the national finals but Rose Adrian and Millie Watson amazingly made it through. They will now go on to the Nationals at the Wyndham theatre in the West End.