A Plague On Both Your Houses
A dramatic retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was unveiled by our
talented second year BTEC Level Extended Diploma in Performing Arts students on
7th December in the Henry Mitchell Hall. The hall has recently been
refurbished as a theatre space and this was the first full production with
light and sound using the new improved facilities.
Damien O’Keeffe, Curriculum Team Leader for Media, Music &
Performing Arts, explained that the show was “based loosely on Romeo and Juliet
but deconstructed and made more physical. The style is very acrobatic and is
influenced by the work of Antonin Artaud. We are very proud that our students
have worked independently on this, guided by student teacher Haley Welsh.”
The two performances given that evening were done as a tribute to the group’s fellow student, Siobhan Ullah, who very sadly passed away a couple of months ago following a chronic asthma attack. Damien noted that this was a moving memorial but also a celebration of her talent. He continued, “Those of us who worked with Siobhan know that she would have absolutely rocked in this performance. It was right up her street and she would have loved it. We want to support the charity that is supporting Siobhan’s family so we are making a collection to raise money for Asthma UK.”
The show featured tremendous performances from all the cast. Lauren McNulty as Juliet and Ashley Tattersall as Romeo impressively evoked the tenderness of the tragedy. Ashley, Jamie Paige-Varney as Mercutio and Jack Davis as Tybalt displayed awesome intensity and athleticism in spectacular fight scenes. But overwhelmingly this was a beautifully assembled, highly charged ensemble piece and great credit should be given to Kayleigh Bloom, Rebecca Carr, Alexandra Garrick, Tanya Gray, Atif Gulzar, Nicole Holt, Leanne Kelly, Zaneta Lachowska, Stephen Maloney, Jamie Paige-Varney, Ebony Pearson, Wiwiana Poludniak and Christina Wilkinson.
On the same evening students from the Extended Diploma in Photography opened an exhibition in the Yorkshire Craft Centre café bar, Colour Brought To Life, as a tribute to Siobhan and to raise money and awareness for Asthma UK.