1623 associate artist Kat Glenn kept a diary as she inspired more than 800 young people with Shakespeare in the North East of England.

SUNDAY 22 MAY

For the third year running we packed our bags and began the journey from the Midlands to North Tyneside for the annual Whitley Bay High School week-long residency. After a painless, albeit very windy, journey we arrived at the lovely York House Hotel and settled in for the night ready to prepare for the long but fun week ahead. 

MONDAY 23 MAY

We were eased into the week on the Monday morning at Valley Gardens Middle School.  We spent two hours of the morning bursting into classes of Year 8 students with snippets of scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew. Having tried this for the first time at the school last year it went down well with the classes as it had done previously. It gave the students a bit of a taster for what they had in store later with a full production of The Course of True Love.

After a hot school meal and a few 'autograph' signings later, we began the six scenes on the stage in front of the whole of Year 8.  Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice and Benedick, Hamlet and Ophelia, Perdita and Florizel, Pertruchio and Kate and Bottom and Titania were brought to life on stage for what was the first time for most of the students. The children seemed engaged throughout and had even mentioned over dinner how much they were looking forward to seeing the show. This was then followed by questions that had been discussed earlier in classes. "What’s your favourite Shakespeare part?" "What is the most difficult Shakespeare word you have come across?" "Did you always want to be an actor?" "Do you get embarrassed kissing on stage?" After answering an abundance of interesting questions and rounding up the show we packed up our belongings and left them to their busy exam and health week.

TUESDAY 24 MAY

The second day started off with slightly more tension and a touch of panic with two performances to two rather large year nine groups on power and conflict.  This was something we'd not done before. Using some scenes from The Course of True Love (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream) we began to look into power and conflict within the play, characters and scene being performed. The scene was stopped mid flow by Shakespeare and questions were asked to the children over who had the power, whether there was conflict and what type it was. This proved to be a really interesting exercise not only for the children (to check they were paying attention and to get them thinking about what's happening in the scene) but also for Jamie [Brown, 1623 associate artist] and me who would be stopped mid sentence. It was an interesting task to test memory to remember where in the scene you are, freezing in awkward positions not to mention very attractive! But also to get feed back during a scene of what people are thinking and how it is coming across. Again once the groups got a grip of what it was we were doing. They seemed to be engaged even finishing a sentence for me at one point (not exactly what Shakespeare had written but she definitely got the idea of what he was saying). 

After a quick sandwich and drink (which I immediately regretted remembering what we were about to do), we moved on to Apple Tree First School where we met Year 4 who were about to take on The Great Shakespearean Workout (based on Troilus and Cressida). An easy task as the kids were enthusiastic, had a great knowledge of Shakespeare and were ready to get energetic. The session was rounded off by questions such as "Who won the Trojan War?" and "Was it real?" Then came my all-time favourite answer to a question, when Ben [Spiller, 1623 artistic director] asked if the group could think of any good reasons to go to war; one little girl piped up "For chocolate!" Not exactly the answer Ben was hoping for, but I did have to stop myself from agreeing!!

WEDNESDAY 25 MAY

The mammoth day of workouts. We began the day at another local first school with two sessions of The Great Shakespearean Workout with a group of Year 4, a lively bunch with lots of energy and enthusiasm. It's good to see them taking on the characters of the Trojan and Greek warriors and want to compete to be the best at the workout. Again many questions followed the session about Shakespeare and his plays including "Who killed Blackbeard?" Not a Shakespeare character I'm familiar with but after getting reassurance that it wasn't a long lost play I was unaware of, it was revealed he was actually talking about Pirates of the Caribbean. Love it!!

After a lunch break we moved over to Monkseaton Middle School to do two workouts with Year 8. Whilst they took a while to build up the enthusiasm they were certainly lively from the start. Unaware of what it was we were coming in to do with them, we were met with a chorus of groans when Shakespeare AND workout were mentioned. However we soon managed to get them up on their feet and enjoyed a session of Shakespeare to the beat. The warriors came out and the competition started with enthusiasm and some excellent warrior stances and voices. An exhausting day but a great success overall topped off by fish and chips by the sea. Magic!

THURSDAY 26 MAY

On the same schedule as Tuesday, this day consisted of two power and conflict performances / workshops with Year 9 students and one afternoon workout in a first school with Year 4. Each group of Year 9 students had a different take on who was the more powerful and parts of the show they found more interesting. After lunch in the library doing the poetry slam, in which Ben and Jamie spent much time creating a masterpiece about falling in love in a maths class, we were whisked off to another first school for our final workout of the week with Year 4. This group had a vast knowledge of both Shakespeare and the Trojan War which took us all a bit by surprise. A really spirited group of children who really got into the workout taking on characters and the language with ease. Giving really good detail about the war and why it started (a girl was married to a hairy man and ran off with another man who I’m assuming was less hairy!!!) But also had a thirst for knowledge about Shakespeare and his plays. Great to see such interest at such a young age.

FRIDAY 27 MAY

Our fifth and final day. Our week was drawing to an end but with no fewer than one power and conflict performance and two workshops with drama groups from Years 9 and 10, followed by being the play-in-a-day judging panel, we still had a full day ahead of us. The performances on power and conflict, which led to workshops on Romeo and Juliet, was met with interest by both Years 9 and 10 as they began to form two opposing gangs. The 'Mint Montague’s' and 'Cheeky Capulet’s’. Beginning to work on characterisation and working with the text from the play, the groups embraced the opportunity that had been given to them with an outside company coming in even if a couple of them ended up being shot by the prince for starting trouble. The workshop then merged into a performance to show how love blossoms between Romeo and Juliet despite the hatred between the two families.

The afternoon saw the return of some roles we had brought to life last year as 'Vincent Vocal’, 'Carrie Choreographer' and 'Martin Motivator' to oversee and judge performances from the play in a day at the library. There to watch, give feedback, advice and hints, we spent the afternoon watching a series of sketches that had been written, rehearsed and then amalgamated to make one piece that the Year 10 students would come and watch. We then handed out prizes for the best performer, best vocal, and best movement. Another great afternoon watching young people being creative and being encouraged to do so.

And so we came to the end of what was yet another wonderful and memorable week at Whitley Bay High School and other local schools. I haven't laughed so much or been inspired by such excitement, interest, knowledge or creativity in ages and by such a terrific group of young people. I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity once again. For the third year running, I feel that both 1623 and the schools of Whitley Bay have managed to come together to give a memorable experience to students. I hope that this is something that can continue to be done well into the future.