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Abingdon and St Helen and St Katharine Schools perform Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Talented teenagers from two schools: Abingdon and St Helen and St Katharine launched a dramatic week with a contemporary performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The refreshingly modern take on Shakespeare’s comedy, featured everything from dance and live music to motorised grannies. 21 students from the two schools performed to sell out audiences over the three nights, garnering huge applause and raucous laughter.
The impressive production of Much Ado was a hard act to follow but the young thespians rose to the challenge, delivering a stunning three-night run, less than a week later, of Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s London Road. The play premiered at the National Theatre in 2011 enjoying two extended runs and was immediately hailed as a modern classic.
Speaking about the productions, Jeremy Taylor, Director of Drama at Abingdon School and Jo Watt, Head of Drama at St Helen’s said, “We are immensely fortunate to be able to work together with such talented and committed young people from the two schools. Tackling Shakespeare and modern classics is both demanding and thrilling, so it has been a joy to work with them on these productions."