Jenny Agutter

"The use of language can give us more than basic communication. Shakespeare's wonderful plays let us hear and understand people's strengths, weaknesses, fears and joys. The plays pose questions about humanity and morality. The words have a music that touches our senses. What better way for young people to understand about language than taking part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival and discovering these extraordinary texts?" - Jenny Agutter

On 18th July 2011 Jenny Agutter responded to our invitation to take part in an unusual fund-raising evening at which Romeo and Benvolio were put on trial for the death of Tybalt. Tolworth Girls' School and Southborough High School for Boys acted the story of Romeo and Juliet up to the fatal stabbing. The stage, at Gray's Inn, then became a court room, with SSF patron-witnesses Philip Pullman and Jenny Agutter, as Friar and Nurse, called to the stand.

Jenny Agutter's work in theatre, film and television is both extensive and Eclectic. Discovered by Walt Disney at the age of eleven, she embarked on a career that has spanned four decades. She joined the National Theatre when she was 21 to play Miranda in The Tempest with Sir John Gielgud and spent the 1982/3 season with the RSC. She has appeared in a number of films that have become classics - Walkabout, The Railway Children, and An American Werewolf in London. Jenny won an Emmy for her role in The Snow Goose and a BAFTA for Equus.