Shakespeare in a week success
Southampton students braved the February cold to stage a promenade-style performance of Twelfth Night under peculiarly challenging conditions.
The Shakespeare in a Week team’s goal was to achieve what Shakespeare's actors were accustomed to doing: find out which play and parts they were to do just a few days before the first performance. Twelfth Night was reduced to fit into an hour, and the cast were given just their cue and own lines in a script.
With no allocated budget, the team took to Sponsume, a crowd funding site through which people can donate fixed amounts in return for rewards. The site raised £248 before the first show, giving the team enough money to print a few signs and programmes and buy a couple of props and costumes with over £200 left to go straight to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Critically well-received in the Daily Echo, the Edge and Soton Tab, the four performances played to over one-hundred and thirty people, raising almost £700 further for charity in ticket and programme sales, donations and DVD orders. The team continues to raise money through DVD sales to those who missed the show and those who loved it and want to relive it.
Find out more from the Shakespeare in a Week blog.