As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women, merely players”.
There were 110 players in 2 nights in November, proudly performing in their abridged play in this year’s MANCEP Shakespeare Festival at Loreto College
Established in November 2012, and hosted in Loreto College’s Ellis and Kennedy Theatre, the MANCEP Shakespeare Festival is a celebration of youth performance and of the very special partnership of MANCEP (Manchester Catholic Education Partnership). As a community, we believe that such a collaborative venture will strengthen the relationships of Manchester schools, students and staff.
In this, its tenth year, eight participating institutions worked together to present some of Shakespeare’s finest plays: St Matthew’s RC High School (Scenes from Macbeth), St. Peter’s RC High School (Hamlet), St Paul’s (Scenes and Speeches), Our Lady’s RC High School (Romeo & Juliet), The Barlow (Much Ado About Nothing), Loreto High School (The Tempest), Xaverian College (Much Ado About Nothing) and Loreto Sixth Form (Comedy of Errors, pictured to the left). This year we had the wind ensemble and jazz band perform Shakespeare inspired music in the interval.
Danny Price, Coordinator said “it is so special to have young people, ages ranging between 11-18 performing Shakespeare with confidence and I want to thank the staff from all 8 institutions who collaborated and allowed our young people to challenge themselves to tackle Shakespeare and be part of a very special community”.
Audience members were really impressed by the quality of the work they saw and to see children from all over Greater Manchester come together, some seeing theatre for the first time, was a joy to be behold
Plans are already underway for Festival 2023. Watch this space!