Year 8 students from St George's will perform their own versions of three Shakespeare plays at the second Shakespeare Schools Festival in Luxembourg on 22nd and 23rd January.

The festival is organised by St George's drama department and this year has attracted schools from France, Belgium and the UK.

It gives students an opportunity to perform their own work on stage in a professional setting. They will also see the work of students from other schools in a supportive environment and receive feedback from a professional actor.

Cavan Clarke will adjudicate this year's festival. He will lead warm-up exercises with the performers before each show, watch all performances and provide verbal and written feedback to the young performers.

In addition to the Year 8 performers, St George's Year 10 BTEC production arts students will run lights and sound for all of the shows as part of their formal assessment and the Year 12 and 13 A-level drama and BTEC performing arts students will support the Year 8s by running backstage and front of house on both evenings.

Cavan Clarke biography

Cavan Clarke is a London-based, Northern Irish actor. He trained at Rose Bruford College, graduating in 2014.

His stage credits include The Cherry Orchard at the Young Vic, The Two Noble Kinsmen at the White Bear, Last of the Boys at the Southwark Playhouse, The Colleen Bawn at the Lyric Theatre Belfast, The Plough and the Stars, My Country and the critically acclaimed Small Island at the National Theatre.

Cavan also spent a winter season at the Royal Shakespeare Company performing in Wendy and Peter Pan and taking part in a number of Shakespeare workshops and rehearsed readings. He also played Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

“Cavan Clarke’s Mercutio steals the spotlight … Cavan is a cocky, charming, restless Mercutio, and the stage is most alive when he’s on it. He seems to revel in his words, speaking them with as much flourish as he uses when wielding his sword. When he dies, the rest of the play feels the lack of him.” – The Guardian

On screen, Cavan has played guest leads for the BBC, and will appear opposite Michael Douglas in Apple’s upcoming biographical miniseries Franklin. He is currently shooting a TV project in Northern Ireland.

Cavan also often works with the casting team on West End musicals such as Dear Evan Hansen, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Crazy For You and The Devil wears Prada as their audition reader.