Shakespeare Festival 2015

The Dulwich College International Shakespeare Festival 2015 was hosted by Dulwich International High School Suzhou in the new campus.

Students and staff from Dulwich College Shanghai and Dulwich International High School Zhuhai traveled to Suzhou to take part in the festival with Dulwich College Suzhou. This year Chris White from the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK was invited as the guest practitioner. The schools were very privileged and excited to have Mr. White involved in the festival. In each workshop he facilitated, Chris engaged the students fully. He set them at ease very quickly so that they were able to show their creativity, skills and enthusiasm during the practical exploration. Overall the experience was very rewarding for the students and staff involved in the festival, and for those who watched the performances.

Mr. White was impressed with the event:

The festival itself was well hosted and ran smoothly. It was particularly interesting when groups got to see one another's work and were surprised, impressed, struck or daunted by what they saw. Zhuhai achieved good clarity with a difficult story in their version of the Tempest, effectively changing the gender of some key characters. Shanghai's production of Macbeth was accomplished, expressive, committed and connected strongly with it's audience and Suzhou's Taming of the Shrew was marked out by its invention, witty irreverence, live music and contemporary parallels. The joyful atmosphere in the audience that evening reflected the success of the festival as a whole and the unique possibilities of bringing creative groups of young people together from all around the country.” When all the groups worked together, they did so in such a warm, welcoming and playful way that you would not have guessed that they have never met before and this spirit of collaboration enabled them to produce a bright collective storytelling version of King Lear.”