ALTON celebrated the works of the world’s most celebrated playwright on the 400th anniversary of his death with its very own open-air theatrical Shakespeare 400 Fest in the Public Gardens.

Organised by Alton Town Council, the event featured original modern adaptations of William Shakespeare’s most famous works by students from Alton College, Amery Hill School, Eggar’s School, and Bordon Junior School.

Town council community and events officer Emily-Jane Messenger said: “All of the children performed beautifully and without the aid of written scripts, which was very impressive, especially considering the ages of the actors and old English language used in many of the plays and sonnets.”

The afternoon began with an enthusiastic performance of scenes from The Merchant of Venice by students from Amery Hill School.

Owain Lewis, head of drama at Amery Hill, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to share the love of Shakespeare and I was so excited to be a drama teacher on Saturday. To watch the students perform in the Public Gardens was inspiring. They did everyone proud. Shakespeare himself would have been very impressed, I’m sure.”

Next up on the bandstand stage were young performers from Alton College, who delighted their audience with their presentation and ingenuity.

The performance was co-ordinated by Nicola Kingsley, head of English and performing arts, who said: “To celebrate 400 years of the Bard, Alton College students performed a vibrant assortment of Shakespeare-inspired pieces ranging from the ultra-modern Tempest Rap, Macbeth in Space with colourful wig-wearing witches and Romeo and Juliet ‘Grease-style’ to the traditional soliloquy from Hamlet, sonnet 116.

“The students were amazing. They wrote and performed their seriously impressive and imaginative take on Shakespeare’s work and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed watching them.”

Students from Eggar’s School were on top form with performances from a recent school production, the hilarious Twelfth Night and the famous speech from As You Like It – all the world’s a stage.

Alison Lambourne, head of drama at Eggar’s School, said: “The students and I truly enjoyed the event. We were very proud of our performances of Twelfth Night and All the World’s a Stage. It was lovely to celebrate Shakespeare’s work and language and see it performed in so many different ways. It is testament to his beautiful storytelling that we still enjoy watching and exploring his words today.”

The last play was The Tempest from the youngest performers of the day, from Bordon Junior School, who pulled out all the stops.

Deputy headteacher Jon Reilly said: “It was such a privilege for our pupils to be involved in such a fantastic event. It has certainly whet the children’s and the school’s appetite to learn even more about the life and work of William Shakespeare.”

Alton Town Council has expressed sincere thanks to all four teachers who made the project possible, and to the students who dedicated hours of time to writing and rehearsing for what Mrs Messenger described as “a very professionally delivered afternoon of Shakespearean theatre”.

“Each pupil was a credit to themselves, their parents and their schools,” she added.

Thanks go also to Alton town crier Stan Whitcher, who introduced each performance, and town councillor Bisi Eni-Olotu for delivering the interval entertainment in the form of a Shakespearian quiz.

Alton mayor Pam Jones and her consort, Dr John Jones, had a prime seat at the front throughout. She said: “What a truly uplifting occasion is was. John and I thoroughly enjoyed the innovative and varied approaches to Shakespeare. Well done to all the young thespians and their teachers.”