On Monday of this week, we performed to a sell-out audience in the Everyman studio, for the final time this year. The show – If Music Be The Food Of Love, was a celebration of Shakespeare, and included excerpts from some of his best known and best loved plays, as well as songs inspired by his works.

We kicked off with a collection of famous lines, accompanied by acapella voices, before a strong performance of a little known song from a little known musical – Catch My Soul. The show is based on Othello, but has been relocated to a 1960s commune. Whilst the show is not very well known, the title song is excellent and allowed the company to show off what they have learned over the last 9 months with our singing tutor, Ria. From there, the audience were treated to performances from Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, and Romeo & Juliet, as well as songs from Kiss Me Kate, Two Gentlemen of Verona (the musical), The Boys from Syracuse and West Side Story. Act 2 opened with He Lives In Me from the Lion King, which led into a spellbinding performance of the famous “To be or not to be” speech, delivered, in our production, by a young, female Hamlet, which, as the audience commented, added a level of poignancy to Shakespeare’s familiar words. This act also included excerpts from The Tempest and Twelfth Night, a selection of sonnets, including one set to music by Rufus Wainwright, and songs from Return to the Forbidden Planet and Jailhouse Rock. Our epilogue was taken from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was accompanied again by acapella vocals.

It was an absolute joy to see how much progress our students have made since beginning the course, not just in terms of performance skills, but in confidence and professionalism. Audience feedback was excellent, and whilst they were very tired after a full on day of technical rehearsals, the company were, quite rightly, very proud of their performance.

You can see the full set of production photos here.