We are delighted to announce that we have been able to secure an incredible opportunity for all of our G30 students.
This week students have been working with professional writer, actress and director Christina Berriman Dawson to support their preparations to perform Macbeth as part of their PoL on Thursday 27th March at Caedmon Hall.
Christina is currently appearing in a production called Champion at the Live Theatre in Newcastle.
The play is set in the summer of 1977 in South Shields, during Muhammed Ali’s now legendary visit to The North East. The drama shows the effect that such a major event has on a mixed race family in South Shields. It is written by one of contemporary theatre’s most regarded writers: Ishy Din. We will take G30 students to see the production, following which they will also have the incredible opportunity to carry out a Q&A with the cast and wider production team.
The matinee performance is at 2pm on Thursday 6th March. Including the interval and the Q&A, we expect to be back in school between 5.00pm and 5.30pm after returning by metro. We will update the school website with our arrival time.
The play has a 14+ recommended age; given our connection to the cast, the challenging themes that students are already familiar with through our curriculum seam of social justice and the levels of maturity that students have shown on recent fieldwork to London, we are confident that our students will manage this. There is some racist and foul language that is indicatively authentic of the treatment of the community in South Shields at that time. We will, of course, prepare students for this and discuss with them how the arts are an important form through which we can represent and challenge issues of social justice.
At XP, we use equity maps to ensure that all students have a breadth of experiences that help to build cultural capital and develop character. Theatre performances are an entitlement for all of our students, so we are delighted that not only will students experience the performance, but as part of their ongoing work with Christina and time with the cast, that it will also help them to further understand and experience the professionalism needed for their own performance of Macbeth.