As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women, merely players”.
Over 150 students from across Manchester took part in this year’s MANCEP Shakespeare Festival, hosted at Loreto College
Established in November 2012, and hosted in Loreto College’s Ellis and Kennedy Theatre, the MANCEP Shakespeare Festival is a celebration of youth performance and of the very special partnership of MANCEP (Manchester Catholic Education Partnership). As a community, we believe that such a collaborative venture will strengthen the relationships of Manchester schools, students and staff.
In this, its Fourteenth year, eight participating institutions worked together to present some of Shakespeare’s finest plays: St. Peter’s RC High School (Much Ado About Nothing), St Paul’s (Taming of the Shrew), Our Lady’s RC High School (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), The Barlow (Much Ado About Nothing), Loreto High School (Macbeth), Xaverian College (King Lear) and Loreto Sixth Form (As You Like It, pictured below). This year we had the wind ensemble, jazz band, piano circus and string ensemble performing in the interval.
Danny Price, the festival Coordinator said “it is so special to have young people, ages ranging between 11-18 performing Shakespeare with confidence and I want to thank the staff from all institutions who collaborated and allowed our young people to challenge themselves to tackle Shakespeare and be part of a very special community”.
Audience members were really impressed by the quality of the work they saw and to see children from all over Greater Manchester come together, some seeing theatre for the first time, was a joy to be behold.
Plans are already underway for Festival 2026, the 15th year of the festival. You can find out more about Performing arts and Music at Loreto by clicking hereÂ