School's Bard play puts a spotlight on museum

5:43pm Saturday 12th July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

AN OPEN-AIR performance of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing proved to be a great showcase for young students and the Basingstoke venue where they staged the play.

One of the Bard's most popular plays was staged in front of The Willis Museum - and the performance attracted a good turnout.

The cast for the comedy was made up of drama pupils from the independent Sherfield School, with pupils ranging in age from eight to 15.

The play was put on in association with the EDGE Project, set up by Hampshire Museums Trust to engage young people with museums.

Louise Rickwood, the youth theatre and arts production manager of the Hampshire Museums Trust, which is based at The Willis Museum, said: "This is an ambitious project and a fantastic way to introduce people to Shakespeare and to museums.

"The students have been so enthusiastic about putting on the show and telling Shakespeare's story, which is still relevant now.

"Many of the people here tonight aren't just family and friends of the cast, but people who have just walked by and started watching, which is a great thing to see.

"Events like these are very important in keeping young people's interest in the arts and museums alive."

Audience member Ferne Phillips, 15, was very impressed with what she saw.

She said: "I was walking by and stopped to take a look.

"It's great because the people on stage are the same age as me and, if other youngsters can look and see what they're doing, then it helps them relate to it."