YOUNG pupils were tasked with getting to grips with one of history’s most famous plays in just one day.

Pupils at IPACA’s Royal Manor Campus, on Portland, returned from the recent Easter holidays to the ‘play in a day’ drama workshop.

The year six pupils had to put on an abridged version of Romeo and Juliet and was designed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

Drama workshops are used at IPACA to introduce or conclude a topic of work as well as to promote inclusion and for revision.

All the pupils go the chance to be involved in the ensemble piece, with each receiving a speaking part as a character or narrator as well as being actively involved using inventive theatre techniques such as choral speech, stylised movement and mime.

Before the big performance though, pupils had a lot of work to carry out, including prop making and set design as well as investigating the language of the bard’s famous piece.

The end of the day saw parents invited in to watch the results of the day’s work in a debut performance.

The activity took place in the Gateway Base at Royal Manor campus where each half-term pupils are greeted with an exciting topic launch.

In the past these have included a WW2 classroom experience, a Jedi training academy and extreme survival skills.

One parent commented on the experiences: “The Gateway Base topic launches are eagerly awaited and anticipated in our house and it was great to be able to share the experience with our children.”

Despite the nerves, this experience was once again a successful one.

Pupil Kiera Glynn, who played Juliet, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the day, it is great to see what we can achieve in one day.”

Fellow pupil, Finlay Short, said: “At first I thought it was an old, soppy love story but I was surprised to see the relevance to this day and age.”

As well as being fun for pupils, the days inspire learning.

Following the Christmas holidays, pupils took part in writing tasks inspired by Star Wars, with plenty members of staff dressed up to inspire pupils.

Events are being held around the country to commemorate the anniversary of Shakespeare's death with commemorative coins being commissioned for the event.

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