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Shakespeare Schools Festival facts for kids

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The Shakespeare Schools Festival is the biggest youth drama festival in the world! It's a super exciting event where schools get to perform shorter versions of Shakespeare's plays. These performances happen in real, professional theatres all over the UK. Since it started in 2000, over 250,000 young people and their teachers have taken part. In 2016, the festival became part of the Shakespeare Schools Foundation, which is a charity. The festival is their main project.

How the Festival Started

The Shakespeare Schools Festival began in the year 2000. It has been running for over 20 years, helping many young people discover Shakespeare.

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1995)

Before the festival, in 1995, twelve of Shakespeare's most loved plays were made into short, half-hour scripts. These were for a TV show called Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, shown on S4C and BBC Wales. Many schools in the UK still use these animated tales to introduce students aged 11-15 to Shakespeare's language and plays. They were even released on DVD in 2013.

First Festival in Pembrokeshire (2000)

In 2000, Chris Grace and Penelope Middelboe, who worked on the animated tales, started the Shakespeare Schools Festival. They used the short scripts from the TV show. Eight schools in Pembrokeshire were the first to join. These high school students performed their plays over two nights at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, and all the shows were sold out!

Growing Across the UK

The festival quickly grew bigger and bigger!

  • 2001: London

* About 1,800 students from 60 schools in London performed in three professional theatres. * A special show was held at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End. Important people like Cherie Booth QC and Tessa Jowell attended.

  • 2002: Wales

* With support from the Welsh Assembly Government and the Arts Council of Wales, the festival came to Wales. * About 3,000 students from 100 schools performed in Welsh, English, or both languages. They performed in 11 different theatres.

  • 2003: Expanding Nationwide

* The festival began to spread across all of England and Wales. * A special event was held at 10 Downing St, hosted by Cherie Booth QC. * About 8,500 young actors from 340 schools performed in 32 theatres. * Some schools even performed at Downing Street for special guests like Tom Stoppard and Philip Pullman. They also performed for the Prince of Wales at the Hackney Empire.

  • 2004: More Growth

* A fundraising show was held at the Peacock Theatre with the Prince of Wales and Festival Patron Kwame Kwei-Armah. * About 10,000 students from 380 schools performed in 38 theatres this year.

  • 2005: Setting Records

* A special version of The Merchant of Venice by Tom Stoppard was performed at the Royal Opera House. * The BBC asked the festival to put on a huge one-day event called "One Night of Shakespeare." Schools performed in 100 theatres across the UK on July 3rd. * This event set a world record for the most people performing Shakespeare on a single day (7,104 people)! The festival even got a place in the Guinness Book of Records. * About 20,000 students from 800 schools performed in 140 theatres.

  • 2007: UK-Wide Festival

* For the first time, the festival took place across the entire UK. * About 22,000 students from 1,056 schools performed in 110 theatres. * A fundraising dinner was held, hosted by Anna Ford and Charles Dance.

  • 2008: New Projects

* The Shakespeare Youth Festival (SYF) started, allowing 16-21 year olds to create their own theatre companies. * Shakespeare 24 (S24) was a worldwide event where youth groups performed Shakespeare plays on April 23rd, Shakespeare's birthday. * The festival also worked in Liverpool as part of its European Capital of Culture year. * In the autumn, the main festival returned with 10,000 students from 500 schools performing in 60 theatres.

  • 2009: Working with National Theatres

* The festival partnered with the National Theatre and the National Youth Theatre. * Famous directors and actors like Adrian Lester and Phyllida Lloyd gave special classes for teachers. * Actress Jenny Agutter became a festival patron. * About 10,000 young people from 500 schools performed in 67 theatres.

  • 2010: More Performances

* Over 10,000 young people from 500 schools performed in 70 theatres. * Harriet Walter became a patron.

  • 2011: Exciting Events

* The festival held a fun fundraising event where they put Romeo on a pretend trial for the murder of Tybalt. Patrons Philip Pullman and Jenny Agutter even acted as witnesses! * The festival also helped with the BBC Learning project "Off By Heart Shakespeare," where young people performed Shakespeare speeches. * For the first time, the festival started a pilot project for primary schools. * In total, 13,000 young people from 600 schools performed in 80 theatres. * Francesca Martinez became a patron.

  • 2012: Workshops and Growth

* The festival was invited by the British Museum to run workshops for students visiting the Shakespeare: Staging the World exhibition. * About 17,500 young people from 700 schools (including 179 primary schools) performed in 90 theatres. * Michael Rosen and Ralph Fiennes became patrons.

  • 2013: Even Bigger

* A huge 25,000 young people from 1,000 schools performed in 120 theatres.

  • 2015: The Trial of Macbeth

* The festival held another exciting pretend trial, this time for Macbeth! * Actors like Christopher Eccleston (as Macbeth) and Haydn Gwynne (as Lady Macbeth) took part. * The event was mostly made up on the spot by the actors and lawyers, based on a story by Jonathan Myerson. * It was a fun way to explore the play's story in a new way.

  • 2016: Royal Performances and Hamlet's Trial

* About 27,550 young people from 1,093 schools performed in 131 theatres. * The festival even had performances at 10 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, and for the Queen's 90th birthday! * Another pretend trial was held, this time for Hamlet. Actors like Meera Syal (as Gertrude) and Tom Conti (as Claudius) joined in. Young performers from the festival shared the stage with these famous actors.

Festival Supporters

Many well-known people support the Shakespeare Schools Festival as patrons. They help spread the word and encourage young people to get involved in Shakespeare.

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