The Tempest

Incredible Show!

Review by Helen Rogers, Literacy Coordinator, St. Giles Primary School Matlock
This was an incredible show, catchy songs, and a real ensemble piece. My children absolutely loved taking part in this, and have developed a real love for Shakespeare. I cannot recommend this musical highly enough.

Absolutely Fantastic

Review by Judith Medd - Class Teacher, Essex My year 6 class have just performed your musical version of The Tempest as our end of year production and it was absolutely fantastic. The children loved the songs, the comedy, the story and the characters and are now hungry to learn more Shakespeare which is a tremendous starting point for their secondary school teachers. It was the first time that our school had performed Shakespeare and our audiences loved it. Thank you!

Terrific production

Review by Kath Coyle - Schools Co-oridnator
, Sefton We involved 14 schools in a huge production of The Tempest at the Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool. All the schools loved the songs and there was scope for a lot of action from the singers as well as the actors. A terrific production - never to be forgotten!

Enthralling performance.

Review by John Miles - Vice-president, Hungerford Children's Theatre Co.
Congratulations to the wonderful young performers who gave an enthralling performance of The Tempest last night, and to Alison Horne (Director) and her crew. I enjoyed every minute of it and the rest of the audience must have too as everyone was happy and smiling at the end. I must also admit I stood there with some pride at being honoured as a vice-president of such an illustrious company and look forward to many more great performances.

Wonderful script and music.

Review by Carmen Costina - Teacher, Rumania
The children enjoyed working on this play and had a great time on stage, they learned all their parts and songs easily and so quickly! Thank you for a wonderful script and music which the children just loved!

Fabulous!

Review by Jenny FallaDirector, Guernsey Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society
We have just staged 'The Tempest' for the annual One Act Play Festival in Guernsey. It went down a storm. We used the backing track because it was excellent and found the script, suggestions and stage directions very helpful and workable. The youngsters have really enjoyed working on it and have felt that it was a good introduction to Shakespeare and a worthwhile undertaking. We kept in the Shakespeare text and that took a lot of work not to stop the action and to get the choral speech well rehearsed. We had looked at a lot of scripts but felt none was worth spending the time on until we found this. It has been a fabulous project for 28 youngsters between 8 and 15. The adjudicator was very complimentary in his remarks and said that the cast had, "brought Tempest to life with gusto. It was a remarkable performance from some very young people and they brought the house down." Praise indeed - but thanks must go to you for this worthwhile script. Many thanks.

Inspired!

Review by Rebecca Guillain - Teacher, Leicester
I have seen a few of your productions at three other schools and I have been impressed every time. The Tempest is a superb way of getting children interested in Shakespeare. Quite a few of my young cast were inspired enough to go to Stratford to see the real thing. It is wonderful to see theatre being kept fresh and alive in this way. I will certainly be ordering again for future productions.

Superb production!

Review by Emily Rayment Year 5/6 Teacher, Barnham Primary School
Teachers and children alike had a fantastic time doing 'The Tempest' production. The songs were both challenging and catchy, and the children loved performing them alongside dance and actions! The script was also brilliant - full of wit and drama. People were impressed with how accessible it made Shakespeare! I would definitely recommend this musical.

Amazing experience

Review by Karen El Falaki - Drama Teacher, Berlin Metropolitan School
We really enjoyed the "Tempest" and our production was a great success! The students excelled themselves and had an amazing experience working on such a stimulating musical.

Absolutely Superb!

Review by Jim Thomson - Head Teacher (rtd), Glasgow
Just finished the production of 'The Tempest'. Absolutely superb! A very challenging piece, but we were determined to keep the original Shakespearean sections and it was well worth the work. The Caliban, Triculo and Stephano scenes were frenetic and the music was brilliant.

Fantastic Piece Of Musical Theatre !

Review by Celia Darby - Principal, Stagecoach Harrogate
The Tempest is a wonderful vehicle for students offering superbly written songs which are a mixture of opera and Les miserables, and a very user friendly script. We split the leading parts of Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban to give more opportunity to more students and the whole cast were on stage throughout the performance. The production was an exciting spectacle enjoyed by students and parents alike. It is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare.

Our Most Successful Production.

Review by Claire Creamer - Teacher,
We staged Nick Perrin's The Tempest and it was our most successful production to date. It also introduced Shakespeare to our school and now many of our children in both key stages are accessing Shakespeare at various levels!

Fantastic Success And Exciting To Do.

Review by Jenny Maguire - Head Teacher, Cambridgeshire
We’ve just performed 'The Tempest' as our end of year production with our KS2 children (Y3 & 4 dance scenes/ Y5 a couple of lines each and Y6 the main roles). It was a fantastic success and very exciting to do, the whole audience was transfixed and buzzing afterwards. The Key Stage one children are now playing “The Tempest' in the playground and singing the songs! Children's comments included - liked the talking over the music - loved the variety of songs - the beginning song was very dramatic with the singing and the actions on the stage, it really grabbed the audience - It was fun doing all the different dances - liked the variety of language changing from Shakespearean to modern - like the contrasts such as the floating sprites and the ugly hobgoblins/ the rough and calm sea - There are lots of little sub-plots going on - It’s magical, dramatic and funny and everything is hooked in the last scene.

Brilliant Introduction To Shakespeare.

Review by Joan Clemo - Deputy Head Teacher, Co. Durham.
It was a brilliant introduction to Shakespeare - very user friendly for the children. The performance itself was a massive success. The music was fantastic with its many different styles and the children loved the comedy sketches. The show gave all the children the chance to do something special - no-one was left out.

Script Makes Shakespeare Extremely Accessible.

Review by Kristen Callaway - Junior Music Coordinator, Wimbledon, London
The script makes Shakespeare extremely accessible. The children enjoyed learning the songs with their very active chorus parts and developing their characters. The reaction from students and audiences was very positive - it has inspired many of the students to look at the original version!

Letter In Western Morning News - Devon

Review by Mrs S Nutton - North Devon.
Friday Feb 27th was a day which will remain in the memory of many parents and friends of the children who put on a dramatic show, based on Shakespeare's play 'The Tempest', at The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe. This was performed as a musical and is a brilliant introduction to Shakespeare for children. The production was helped and filmed by Ilfracombe College and it was great to see the school, college and theatre working together to show what can be done for the enjoyment and good of Ilfracombe. Well done; I enjoyed every minute of it, as no doubt did everyone else! The children are to be congratulated on an excellent evening's entertainment.'

Memorable Introduction To Shakespeare.

Review by Helen Bradshaw - Music Specialist, Putney, London.
It was a memorable introduction to Shakespeare in a context that was fun and accessible. The chorus was involved throughout - it felt like an inclusive production.'

Very Good!

Review by Marian Tomlins - Ks2 Coordinator, Oxfordshire.
Very good! The children really thought it was special; the songs were good and the children managed them well. 'The Tempest' made Shakespeare accessible and enjoyable.

Beautiful.

Review by Mrs Hemsley - School Office Manager, Tunbridge Wells
It was beautiful. There was a standing ovation for the first time ever! Fantastic!

Well Written.

Review by Ann Lofthouse - Music Dept., Blackburn
I would just like to tell you how much we enjoyed producing 'The Tempest' for our musical evening. This is a super show - we all enjoyed learning the songs and our yr 6 children thoroughly enjoyed acting the script. This is a particularly well written show.

Funny

Review by Pupil Comments
The play is very funny especially 'Let's Have A Little Drink'. The parts are very easy to learn and it is easy to follow. - Joshua. (Gonzalo) My class really loved the humour, the songs and the dialogue. Our parents LOVED it! - Luke, (Caliban) I am writing to tell you how brilliant your play is. The story is extremely interesting and exciting. Stephano, Caliban and Tricolo were the funniest. The music was brilliant. - Katie, (Ariel)