The students of John Colet immerse in Shakespeare’s work every year, from Kindergarten to Year 6, learning many aspects of stagecraft in the process. As our sixth-class leavers prepare to embark on the next stage of their educational journey, it is apt to reflect on the legacy of their theatrical experiences, to consider “which grain will grow, and which will not” of those seeds that were planted during their seven years at the school.
Let us examine first the revelations in performance. What becomes immediately apparent on stage is the high level of confidence, exuding from not only the naturally extroverted students, but from every single child. One remarks the absence of self-doubt: no-one stutters in the flow of dialogue; no-one suffers the agonies of stage fright; no-one freezes on or offstage. It is a given that everyone will meet the demands of public display. Where many adults might stumble or fall, these children glide through without hesitation. Clearly, the expectation of universal participation imprints in the children’s minds the inevitability of self-expression: they become at home in the public gaze, knowing that their audience is always unquestionably supportive and encouraging, attentive to every word and poised to celebrate success. They do not feel exposed in performance because they have not been judged, only guided and shaped.
The scene is then set, emotionally and psychologically, for an increasingly stringent quality of training, since the child’s sense of identity is resilient enough to absorb and react positively to constructive criticism. During the intense rehearsal week prior to the end of year Festival, each class has limited time to adapt to a new stage space, to the added demands on voice and stance, and to the necessity of careful backstage management. Given all this, the maturity on display by children as young as eight years old, in co-ordinating their efforts as a team and continuously responding to instruction with grace and focus, is a joy to witness. In the flow of dramatic performance, the children’s future potential reveals itself in glimpses, clarifying and bolstering their sense of identity, and offering parents and teachers the assurance that that these children of today will emerge soon enough into the wider world as mature young adults, ready to make a significant positive contribution to society.
But what of the potential wisdom imbibed through embodied depictions of Shakespeare’s stories and characters? There is, of course, a moralistic agenda to the plays – tragedies and problem plays in particular – showing which human flaws, if left unchecked, will lead to a timely demise. It is made clear that the easy road to wealth or power always has unpleasant consequences; and that those characters who hold to their wisdom, survive the spiritual storms, however physically or emotionally scarred they might be: think of Banquo, who resists temptations of self-glory, unlike his comrade Macbeth, and thus sets a noble course for his descendants to become future Kings; consider Cordelia, who refuses to use flattery to gain her rightful inheritance, unlike her sisters, but in the end is the only daughter who wins her father’s love; or Prospero, who could have abused his powers of magic to destroy his enemies but instead decides to set aside his grievances, his magic and his vendetta, to choose forgiveness, resulting in the restoration of his position, of his relationship with his brother and of the happiness of his beloved daughter Miranda.
Many a speech, memorised and verbalised time and again by our students, contains pearls of wisdom to be cherished for a lifetime, such as:
- “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo & Juliet)
- “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt” (Measure for Measure)
- “The course of true love never did run smooth” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
- “This above all: to thine own self be true” (Hamlet)
- “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool” (As You Like It)
- “The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite” (Romeo and Juliet)
The sixth class take away with them a rich store of memories and aphorisms; they move out into the world with an awareness of the human condition and of their own tremendous potential for good. Even more crucially, they have learnt how it feels to truly connect, and this is essential for a life characterised by compassion and collaboration.
Claire Lilla
John Colet School Shakespeare Festival Director
