April 13th was Shakespeare Day at Loreto College Curepipe. This day was chosen for convenience rather than historical truth as the exact date of birth of England’s greatest poet is not known: the nearest we can get is late April 1564...

It was a day charged with excitement for the students of forms four and five, who were the ones invited to take part in the various activities. Preparations had been going on for some time and the response to the three competitions [artwork, costumes and acting] was enthusiastic.

By far the most popular however was the second one as more than half of the students present were in costume from one or another of Shakespeare’s plays. Over 150 contestants, ranging from the witches in Macbeth to Shylock and Cleopatra paraded before the jury of members of staff, who were very impressed by the variety and originality of the costumes.

The challenge of a famous role

The art competition also proved popular. Entrants had to depict a scene or a character from one of the plays. The winner was a most romantic representation of Romeo and Juliet at their balcony - painted by one of the witches! But the most challenging - and certainly the most entertaining - part of the day was the ‘acting’ competition - students staged short scenes or speeches from Twelfth Night which is one of their set-texts for the SC English Literature course this year. We enjoyed performances from a lively Feste the clown, a suitably pompous Malvolio and a very sentimental Orsino, among many others.

The feeling was truly Shakespearean at this point -nothing but a bare stage, the audience and the challenge of interpreting a famous role.... “We would recommend this kind of activity to all schools”, said one young teacher, “because it brings English Lit to life!” Students too were unanimous: on this day at least, Shakespeare was FUN!

<B>B.P.</B>