Cranford Review / March_2018

Twelfth Night
by Cranford Community College
at The Wycombe Swan, 11/20/2017
appraised by Kristoffer Huball
I would like to offer sincere thanks and congratulations to Cranford Community College for
your wonderful production of Twelfth Night as part of the 2017 Shakespeare Schools
Festival. Students and teachers alike have put hard work, imagination, determination and
passion into this production, and were a credit to the school. I'd like to take this opportunity
to highlight just a few fantastic moments that you should be especially proud of.
This production opened with a bang and grabbed the audience’s attention right from
the beginning. I loved the way that this ensemble thought about the opening movement
section, showing the party on the boat before it crashed on Illyria. It showed the levels
of tension within the scene and was choreographed well. It also gave the audience a
sense of where these characters had come from and what’s at stake for them.
I was very impressed by the huge amount of character work that had been done with
this piece. All of the young performers had clearly defined characters, with strong levels
of motivation making them feel three dimensional and relatable. The relationships are
what made this 400 year old story feel relevant to this modern audience.
The use of the company in this production must be commended and there were
excellent ensemble reactions to the main plot points, showing a professionalism in
support, and a deep understanding of the complex Elizabethan text. This was
particularly evident during the boxtree scene in Olivia's garden, which was filled with
engergy and focus.
Twelfth Night was tremendous, thrilling and triumphant.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this superb production. I hope to
see Cranford Community College in the Festival again next year.
Kristoffer Huball
shakespeareschools.org charity no. 1164676
My experience in
Twelfth Night was a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity and I will never forget it. Loads of people
think that drama is a waste of time but it gave me all these
advantages to life and it would probably help me in the
future as well. I recommend other people to take up drama.
Ashaani Balendran
The Shakespeare Schools Festival was an amazing
experience, I learnt how to use light, sounds, cues and
so much more. I made so many new friends and enjoyed
working back stage. I would love to participate in the
SSF again.
Kehan Munir
I am so glad that I took part in the festival. It was exhilarating
and I felt so proud of myself. I have made so many friends during
this process. We have had laughs and worked so hard to be able
to light up that stage. I feel that I have grown in confidence and
become more mature. I wished that it could never end. I hope I
will be able to have an opportunity like this again and I will most
certainly take part. My advice to everyone else is that when you
see an opportunity grab it because you never know when you will
see an opportunity like that again and you never know where it
will take you.
Being
part of Twelfth Night, I have learnt that drama
is not about reading from a script, it has to come
from within you and you really have to feel your
character whilst performing. This also helped
build up my confidence, helped me speak more
loudly and not be afraid to show everybody my
talent. I really enjoyed being part of the cast,
it was really exciting. I am really going to miss
rehearsals, I hope I do this again and have as much
fun as I did during this period of time. I will miss
being Sebastian. Thank you Twelfth Night and Miss
Turner.
Isra Jadoon
Anchal Chawla
I loved how to express my inner self through my
character. I loved the costumes that the production
team created. I loved how I made new friends and
how I created a bond with them. “I am free to be what
I want to be”
Tyrone Emmanuel
7