Shakespeare trumps Hollywood

You can keep your Brangelinas, Marilyns, Audrey Hepburns and Beyonces.

Because when the red carpet comes out, there’s only one guy who covers all the bases for a young bunch of performers - and his is the only game in town.

His name is William Shakespeare and he is the reason they gathered at Greenfaulds High School recently for their third Anniversary.

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Their name is Shakespeare’s Kids and their homage to the Bard of Avon took the jubilant form of a premiere that they’ve made of his plays.

Other cardboad cut outs of idols were in evidence and these even included Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill.

Yet no-one but the youngsters themselves could compete with the playwright in their affections

Westerwood’s Sharon McNally who formed the group said: “This was our third film production and with the funding received by Creative Scotland through The Big Lottery fund,it was by far our best yet .

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And she revealed that Cumbernauld itself was one of the stars of the show.

“It took a year to produce , around 90 children participated and we filmed at both the Westerwood Hotel and Cumbernauld Old Parish Church and Cumbernauld Village churchyard.

And the highlight of the show?

“Shooting the death of Tybalt & Mercurio in the graveyard was extremely exciting for the children as you can imagine,’’ said Sharon who wasn’t afraid to add a touch of Uptown Funk to the proceedings which were given the Bruno Mars treatment.

“The night also featured five music videos which were amazing fun to produce and my young actor were simply outstanding,’’ she added.

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“As it was our third anniversary the show performed before the premier was a showcase of all we have achieved so far .

“The children performed a mini Macbeth , a mini Midsummer Nights Dream , danced with the Snow Queen as we explained our ‘Kids for Unicef’ charity effort and finished off with our very own Bruno Mars performing with his crew as the girls walked the red carpet.’’

Others in the business are starting to notice how well the group is doing too. Sharon said: “The film has been highly praised by the ‘Bard In the Botanics’ cast of Romeo & Juliet and we are just about to start taking the films around local schools for other children to enjoy.’’

So what’s next? Sharon stresses that is is something a bit different from what the youngsters are used to.

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“The children are taking a short break from Shakespeare , just short one as they are prepare for their first big stage production this Christmas.

“All we can reveal for the moment is that it will be a Disney extravaganza with around 100 children and a huge range of everyone’s favourite Disney characters and it’s very exciting!’’