A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Rainford High students!

24 students from Rainford High recently performed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at The Met Theatre in Bury.  

Students from Years 8 and 9 were selected for the opportunity by the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation Festival.  

The foundation is a cultural education charity that aims to give all young people a chance to work on their confidence. It works with thousands of children and young people from across the UK every year.  

Rainford High students took part in the production, and despite the differences in age they worked well together and gave each other support and encouragement throughout the rehearsal and show day.  

The experience allowed the younger generation to be exposed to the works of Shakespeare in a fun and engaging way, whilst also embedding their love for the performing arts.  

Miss Hett and Miss Gillard, who were teacher-directors of the performance, said: “We are so proud of all the students involved. They worked incredibly hard and showed great teamwork.   

“The company came together with a real sense of enthusiasm, passion and focus that met every strand of our school ethos, ‘Everyone Matters, Everyone Helps, Everyone Succeeds’.”  

The play followed the paths of four young Athenians who ended up in a magical forest where mischievous fairy Puck created a love potion that made everyone fall in love with the wrong person. The team put a modern twist on the performance by including a human-built forest, the song Black Magic by Little Mix and a company movement sequence to the Benny Hill theme tune.  

Year 9 student, Seamus Kennedy, played the role of Lysander, one of the four main lovers in the play. He said: “It was amazing to get to work with other people, and it was such a great experience performing in a real theatre because I got to feel like a real actor!  

“I’m so glad I’ve picked drama for my options next year so I can do more things like this.”