The Shakespeare Festival - 2025
The year 9s had an incredible day of fun at the Shakespeare Festival, 2025! It took place on 31st January and our adjudicator for the day, was actor and writer, Mr Neil Keery. Mr Keery thought the day was super and the talent in yr 9, “phenomenal”.
The year 9 classes excelled themselves in their commitment to their performances: learning lines; producing fantastic sets; managing sound and music; choreographing dances and stage movement and creating colourful costumes. The themes were really exciting and contemporary, and the audience loved them!
Mr Keery delighted us with his insightful and interesting deliberations on each play. He also awarded prizes to the best actors and supporting actors for each performance as well as trophies for the best: set, choreography, costume, sound, original interpretation and best overall performance.
25 Mario Bros
9B opened the show with an imaginative and colourful remake of ‘Romeo and Juliet: Mario Brothers’. The set was clever and vivid and our judge, a gamer himself, thought the ideas were incredible! Music and sound brought the theme to life and the costumes were authentic and vibrant. The Italian accents of Mario and Luigi added an extra layer of fun to the whole group performance!
25 Caesar
Then we watched 9J’s, Julius Caesar: ‘Make Rome Great Again.’ The audience experienced a high-tech, slick and modern interpretation of this play as a political satire set in contemporary America. This fast-paced play captivated the audience with its edgy performances and immersive action which included unicycles and gymnasts. Mr Savage and Mr Faherty joined in the live music on stage on their instruments-seriously cool!
25 High School
Next came 9F’s, ‘Romeo and Juliet: American Football Edition’. We were entranced from the opening by this visually-exciting, fluent production and the by emotional and enthralling performances of the actors. The sound was excellent and the pace of the show, electrifying. The choreographed routines were superb!
25 Mobsters
We were then delighted by 9M’s ‘Macbeth: A Mobster’s Ambition’. The set was exciting and the mobster accent of the actors really worked with the Shakespearean language to create gutsy and sinister characters. The costumes were fantastic: mobster suits; the witches as police on the beat and Lady Macbeth’s gold 1920’s flapper dress. Ms McCool’s cameo in the play was great fun!
25 Shakeys
Next came 9P’s wholly original, ‘The Shakeys 2025’. The actors chose the most exciting moments from Shakespeare ‘hits’ and performed these superbly! These fantastic performances were woven together by Shakespeare himself, an amazing compare! The audience went wild when a host of teachers (including ‘cameo stalwarts’ Father Grant and Siobhan Toner) joined in the dance routines!
25 Ancient Rome
Finally, came 9T’s enchanting, Twelfth Night: ‘Strange Acts of the Ancient Gods’. The costumes were themed in Ancient Greece and the tableaux created were beautiful. The students themselves created live music using Elizabethan song and flutes. The set of columns entwined by ivy was very dramatic and the actors were superb.
It was a really exciting and successful day for year 9 and an especially engaging one for year 8, who were picking up tips for their performances for next year’s festival!
