ITW Shakespeare Company
"We are Such Stuff as Dreams are Made on........"
Our Shakespeare Company starts with a workshop in August and continues then up until our performances in November.
We will work together every week starting at the very beginning, de-mystifying Shakespeare up on our feet learning the nuts and bolts of Shakespeare’s work and language and culminating in performances live on stage in front of an audience of friends and family!
Our ITW Shakespeare Company have performed The Winters Tale, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors in recent years and a non traditional production of A Midsummer Nights Dream via ZOOM in 2020. We also brought our Company to Shakespeare's Globe in London to see Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors live on stage and to perform Merchant of Venice in Birmingham Old Rep with 2 days in Stratford doing workshops with the RSC and visiting Shakespeares Birthplace and School!
Our past cast members have also won awards for Shakespeare in many competitions including the SDToI Festival and Feis Maitiu. Our Grads have gone on to train professionally at top colleges including The LIR and RADA, and to perform professionally in Theatre, Film and Television too!
A high level of commitment is required and the rewards are huge!
Intensive rehearsals every Sunday from 12 to 2pm September to November.
A performance at The Sean O’Casey Theatre as part of our ITW Shakespeare Festival in mid November
A Day trip to London on to see a performance in The Globe Theatre, Southbank
An acting workshop with an Actor from The Globe
A Tour of The Globe Theatre London
The cost is €210 to participate in the home performance (Sept-Nov inc all workshops and rehearsals ) plus costs if you want to do the UK part too; flights, Tickets, Workshops etc approx €150 -will get best deals possible).
We encourage the parents to get on board to organise some fundraising activities (karaoke night/sponsored dramathon) to help pay for the costs in London and transport, costumes, props and so on. This is a collaborative project that everyone is expected to get involved with and support.
ITW Shakespeare Company is for ITW Members only. (You must be taking 2 or more classes per week including a Drama class)
“This was a meaningful and sensitive Merchant of Venice from a mature, committed company!” – Schools Shakespeare Festival November 2022
“Strong, energetic and dynamic – an accomplished and original production” –Schools Shakespeare Festival on our Romeo & Juliet - read the full appraisal report HERE
“Thanks Gillian, I’m delighted we made the trip to Belfast it was a great performance by all the kids and congratulations to you all. Harriet has enjoyed the whole experience lots and love to do it all over again !”
“I loved my time at Junior Shakespeare (JS) and learned a lot. Not just about acting, drama and Shakespeare but also about social skills and interactions. I played Romeo in Romeo & Juliet.
I was approached to try out JS and I decided it would be good for school as we were studying Romeo & Juliet at the time. I learned a lot about Shakespeare and English in general by reading, learning and reciting the lines. The Directors also were a huge help and very nice.
Before I went to JS I did drama with ITW. I was not very confident in class and in general a bit awkward. Getting a role in JS was quite freeing and improved my social & conversational skills and drama skills.
Overall it improved large aspects of my skills that will help; not just in Drama and English but also in day to day life”
“My Daughter Saskia has been a student for 9 years and absolutely loves the fun and friends she has made in ITW. She has had so many opportunities from performing at the Mac Theatre in Belfast as part of the Shakespeare schools programme to this year travelling to London to attend workshops and see amazing shows on the West End! Saskia has learned so much from her speech classes that have helped her in school with public speaking and understanding poetry! Whether she will pursue a career in this field is not what is important, but the life skills and confidence she has gained in being part of this amazing school. There is something for everybody at ITW. Many thanks to Gillian and all the staff. ”
“I really enjoyed my time in the play. It was good craic but challenging at times. I loved learning new skills like stage combat and fight choreography and ways of acting. It helped me a lot with my studies as I am studying Romeo and Juliet at school. I was very nervous going out on stage at The MAC Theatre but other than that I was fine. I made loads of new friends and the experience as a whole was great.”
We are so proud of our Shakespeare Company 2020/21 who performed A Midsummer Nights Dream on ZOOM - rehearsed in the main outside and on ZOOM during September, October and November and recorded on ZOOM in November.