Shake-up at Bosworth

Shakespeare's Richard III was given a 21st century spin

Students from Ivanhoe College, Ashby School and Castle Rock High School performed their own take on key scenes from the play as part of Leicester Shire's Find Your Talent initiative; performing in the historic backdrop of Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and Country Park on Friday, 12th June.

Drama, English, History and Art teachers at the schools took up the challenge, rehearsing their students in school, before everyone came together on the day (under the guidance of SSF and Slung Low) to create a unique and jaw dropping production.

Split into three ten-minute scenes, each  took place at a separate destination within the grounds of Bosworth Battlefield.

Audiences got to experience the power of Richard's ambition as he vowed to be king despite being the fourth in line to the throne, in Ivanhoe College's installation tent.

The audience was amazed by Richard's seduction of the Lady Anne at the most unlikely moment - as she accompanied the funeral procession of her husband, murdered by Richard, performed by Ashby School.

The audience empathised with Richard's state of mind as his guilty conscience caught up with him in his tent on the eve of battle, as performed by Castle Rock School. The ghosts of his victims, including the "little princes smothered in the tower" and his wife, Anne, laid their deadly curses upon him.

After a workshop in medieval warfare from Bosworth's Captain Paul Parker, all three schools performed the final battle between the houses of Lancaster and York. The evening ended with the triumphant Richmond leading a horse through the bodies and vowing to unite the Red Rose and the White.