When most teenagers and young adults these days prefer something modern, the Sixth Formers of Tenby Schools Ipoh proved us wrong by enthusiastically studying and performing the traditional plays of William Shakespeare.
The drama tradition goes back to their very first year of inception, in 2010, when the Sixth Formers arrived at Tenby Ipoh. With the setting up of the Shakespearean Theatre Club, these plays opened up a whole new world of experience for these students.
“We needed to go beyond just academics and what we found is the most appropriate programme for pre-university students, which will involve some contact with literature, is Shakespearean drama,” said Louis Rozario Doss, Principal of Sixth Form, Tenby Ipoh.
“Our aim is not only theatre practice but to promote a passion for one of the arts,” he said.
So far, the sixth form students have produced and performed at least seven different plays from Shakespeare’s work including ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Hamlet’, The Tempest’, ‘The Winter’s Tale’, ‘As You Like It’ and most recently, ‘The Merchant of Venice’.
Doss added that by performing these plays, students also break out from their personal moulds and learn to be different, which is healthy for educational development.
“It widens the scope of the students to go beyond their comfort zones and to feel how other people felt in other circumstances. For example, in The Merchant of Venice, we empathise with the Jews and how they suffered discrimination in the middle ages and we see the need to be more inclusive in our way of life rather than exclusive,” he said.
While most of Shakespeare’s works are pretty serious and hard to understand at times, the Tenby Sixth Formers go the extra mile with their modern rendition of the plays by adding humour, songs and dances to attract their audience.
“We have these drama sessions weekly and have lots of fun doing it together,” said Lim Ka Wai, student and director of their latest play, Hamlet.
The weekly drama training sessions are held on Mondays at Tenby Schools, Ipoh. For more information on these sessions or on performances, contact Louis Rozario at 010 390 5011.
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