We are thrilled to announce a magical new season of events coming to Rugby’s Macready Theatre in the new year.
Theatre, comedy, magic, adventure, cyberpunk, music, and dinosaurs… this season really does have it all!
So whether you are looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the culture-lover in your life, on the hunt for a fun family day out, or looking to treat yourself to an evening’s entertainment, we’ve got it covered.
We are delighted to share the news that John Agard has been awarded the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021.
We are honoured to call John a friend of the Macready Theatre and a supportive patron of our annual Festival On The Close. We congratulate John on this wonderful, much-deserved award.
You can read more about the award here >>
If you want to see John in action, you can join us for An Evening With John Agard later this month where John will be sharing stories, poems and the premiere performance of his brand new one man show.
Well done to everyone who joined our half-term workshops!
This week 40 young people aged 8-17 took to our stage for a series of vibrant & creative workshops led by Motionhouse. It was such a delight to see our stage bursting with creativity that we have compiled some of our favourite moments into this blog post to share with you.
A stage is the perfect place to tell a story & we loved seeing new stories being created right before our eyes. Storytelling through dance was totally new to some attendees, but it didn’t slow them down! Interesting narratives were being weaved left right and centre.
Dance and performance exercises help build strong teamwork skills. It was truly impressive to see young people who had never met before working together to collaborate and choregraph exciting dances.
These half-term workshops took participants out of their comfort zones whether that was by trying new steps, getting up on a stage & perform in front of others, or trying their hand at choreography. We loved seeing everyone learning new skills by trying something new!
Creative workshops have an incredible ability to bring people out of their shell. It was wonderful to see all of the participants grow in confidence as the workshops went on.
Finally, a *huge* thank you to Motionhouse’s workshop leaders Aaron and Mitch for making the workshops so much fun! Their encouragement motivated everyone to take the first step and try something different. Who knows where these new creative journeys will end!
Thanks to the generous support of CEMEX UK we were able to offer these sessions to 40 young people free of charge. Well done to all of the participants for throwing themselves into learning something new. We look forward to sharing more opportunities like this soon!
Thursday 7 October 2021
Did you know that our Macready Theatre is named after the famed Shakespearean actor William Macready? You might have spotted his portrait hanging proudly at the back of our auditorium, keeping a close watch over the comings and goings on his stage.
To celebrate National Poetry Day, we are sharing Farewell, Macready, written by Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1851. Tennyson was one of William Charles Macready’s closest friends, and he wrote this verse to mark the occasion of Macready’s retirement from the stage.
TO WC MACREADY
Farewell, Macready, since to-night we part:
Full-handed thunders often have confessed
Thy power, well used to move the public breast.
We thank thee with one voice, and from the heart.
Farewell, Macready, since this night we part.
Go take thine honours home; rank with the best;
Garrick, and statelier Kemble, and the rest,
Who made a nation purer through their art.
Thine is it that the drama did not die.
Nor flicker down to brainless pantomime.
And those gilt gauds men-children swarm to see.
Farewell, Macready; moral, grave, sublime,
Our Shakespeare’s bland and universal eye
Dwells pleased, through twice a hundred years on thee.
Happy National Poetry Day! How are you celebrating?
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We are looking for some friendly faces to join the team at Macready Theatre and help us welcome our audiences back.
These casual positions will include a mixture of bar work and front of house duties, such as greeting audiences and showing people to their seats.
Applicants must be aged 18 or over due to licensing laws.
You can download the full job description here >>
To apply, please visit the Rugby School recruitment portal here >>
We are looking forward to welcoming you back to live performances and events. Your comfort and safety is our priority and we want to reassure you about the steps we are taking to keep us all safe at this time.
If you have any questions, please email the theatre manager:
Dettie Ellerby, dre@rugbyschool.net.
Macready Theatre