Nine children, 62 roles and 30 minutes

By Cheryl Latter

Romeo (Will Knight) and Juliet (Eden Latter) sing the Romeo Blues. (Picture by Mary Carey, 0606552)

A TASTE of Shakespeare and a touch of royalty were the themes for this year’s end-of-term play.

Pennie and Adrian Heyworth returned from a visit to Buckingham Palace just in time for the island school’s regal summer concert. With Dame Mary Perkins in attendance and music provided by Christine Anthony OBE, the stage was set for an afternoon of drama and history.

The concert consisted of several condensed Shakespeare performances – Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream – and concluded with Romeo and Juliet, the Musical.

Although the script was true to the actual plays as far as dialogue went, the songs were modern and entertaining, including a Blues Brothers-style Romeo Blues complete with black hats and shades.

After the performance, Mrs Perkins awarded each child with a certificate documenting the plays they had studied and the characters they had played.

Teacher Mary Carey explained: ‘The idea is that when they encounter the work of Shakespeare in high school, they can look back at what they have already done and not be daunted.’

The nine children, aged between four and 11, portrayed a staggering 62 different Shakespearean characters within the 30-minute play.

Mrs Heyworth presented the Peter Wood Trophy to this year’s winner, nine-year-old Charlie Knight. The trophy originally belonged to Pennie’s father and is awarded for progress and endeavour throughout the school year, something Major Wood felt strongly about.

‘My father was a thoroughly nice chap,’ she told Charlie, ‘as are you.’

The busy week ended with the annual school fete. All money raised goes into funds for the coming year. Stalls included a barbecue, cakes, face-painting, a raffle, tombola and a bouncy dinosaur. All raffle prizes were kindly donated by various Herm departments and Guernsey shops and businesses.

Despite the dull weather, a total of £850 was raised for the school.