10th Anniversary Gala

Shakespeare Schools Festival and Telereal Trillium hosted a gala evening at the prestigious Lyric Theatre in London's West End. The evening was a celebration of SSF's 10th anniversary, as well as an opportunity to showcase some performances from the Festival.

Mill Hill County High School gave a quirky and slick introduction to the aims, reach and ethos of SSF before opening the night with their performance of The Taming of the Shrew. Tasnim Siddiqa Amin from Central Foundation Girls' School was literally in the spotlight next, with a soliloquy from Hamlet. Next on stage were Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee School with Twelfth Night, before Jasmeen James of Lambeth Academy performed a soliloquy from Othello. St. Aidan's CE High School ended the evening with a high-energy The Comedy of Errors.

The evening was concluded by an apppraisal from two of SSF's patrons; Sir Nicholas Hytner and Jenny Agutter.

The focus of the evening was to raise the profile of SSF and to explain that the dedicated team of 12 core staff work hard all year round to create the opportunity for young people of all backgrounds and abilities to rise to the challenge of performing Shakespeare and by so doing to achieve something they can be proud of. SSF boosts articulacy and confidence, both of these raise aspirations. SSF is about opening doors and teachers hold the keys to those doors.

A member of the audience, as a celebration of their achievement, invited the cast of Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee School to visit 10 Downing Street.