No sooner were the New Year festivities over and the routine of school life re-established than our vibrant and thrilling production of Macbeth hit the road, starting off in our home base of the East Midlands before heading south to London. With actors, Poppy Charlton, Paulo Sebastiao, and Callum Broome; direction and choreography by Riad Richie with assistant director and intimacy director, Emily Orme, and costume design by Sorcha Corcoran. The production was described as a “stellar performance, really innovative and creative and one of the best theatrical performances I have ever seen in my life” by members of its student audiences.
By the end of the month, the equally engaging and heart-rending tale of Romeo and Juliet was also touring the country, from Yorkshire via the West and East Midlands to the South West and East. With 100% of students who completed evaluation forms stating that they really enjoyed watching the performance.
In February, the production was joined by Jekyll and Hyde, with actors Olivia Pommier, Kyan Andrews and Samater Ahmed captivating their audiences with their performances in both shows. As teachers who saw Romeo and Juliet commented “Box Clever is an amazing theatrical experience. For many of our students it will have been the first live performance they have seen.” Some of them said it was the best thing they have ever seen and described it as “a fantastic and engaging production that has been crafted to bring Shakespeare to life in this modern world.” The dramatisation of Stevenson’s tale of the devastating conflict between personal desires and the constraints of Victorian society also fully engaged its audience, “I loved everything. I love it every time Box Clever comes to my school. I feel so blessed as their acting and voices are amazing I really appreciate their time and I enjoy it every time. It's really special. Thank you, Box Clever! It was amazing I'm so speechless!!”
The company’s actors have also been visiting primary schools in the North West, the East and London as Local Councils and Funders alike have supported our work to make travelling independently to school safer for pupils about to transition to secondary school. Getting There, performed by Elliot Hay and Jez Davess-Humphrey, written by Michael Wicherek and directed by Joel Nash, combines music, humour and energetic action, set within a familiar family relationship to engage and enliven the audience and embed confidence as they learn how to be safe. As one Deputy Head noted, “It was very relatable to the children and all were engaged throughout. There were some hard-hitting messages which will be remembered and applied. The performance was fantastic- the pupils were given opportunities to actively participate. The actors had an excellent manner with the children and valued all contributions.”