A group of Liverpool students were inspired after they received a special acting workshop from the cast of Macbeth today.
Stars of the play, Ralph Fiennes, Indira Varma, Lucy Mangan and Lola Shalam, arrived at Archbishop Blanch school as part of an initiative arranged by Liverpool City Council in conjunction with the Liverpool Film Office. Each actor delivered a masterclass on the Shakespeare play and their acting journeys with a small group of A-Level literature and drama students, which also included pupils from St Francis of Assisi and St Nicholas schools.
Archbishop Blanch's headteacher was honoured to stage the event at the secondary school and said the workshop was the "chance of a lifetime" for the students. Claire Madeloso told the ECHO: "To have such world famous actors in to give their perspective on the play, the journeys their characters make and the opportunity to ask questions about their portrayal is absolutely fantastic.
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"And equally to see how Shakespeare is still really relevant to today's society is great for the students as well." Macbeth is being performed at The Depot until December 20 before the production tours in Edinburgh, London and Washington DC.
The acclaimed production premiered in Liverpool and Mrs Madeloso said it was inspirational for the children to see their home city be recognised as a place of cultural significance. She added: "Liverpool's had a huge impact on culture across our country for many years so to have that type of performance come to the old Littlewoods building on Edge Lane is absolutely fantastic.
"In terms of culture, it's fantastic to see that Liverpool is globally seen as an important city and for them to be recognised as young people who can influence what happens next in society."
The actors ended the session with a special Q&A where they took questions from the schoolchildren. Ralph is regarded as one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation as the 60-year-old has received two Academy Award nominations across his glittering career.
The Grand Budapest Hotel star was candid as he delivered pearls of wisdom on the importance of accessing your own inner truth to get to the heart of a strong performance. He told the students: "I'm a great believer in the audience will like it or not like it.
"I think we have to find our human truth in the writing and play that truth as much as we can and respond to the other actors I'm sharing the stage with."
A Year 12 student named Eva was one of a group of nine pupils, who was part of Ralph's class today. The A-Level student admitted she was starstruck to be taught by the actor, who is renowned for his role as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film franchise.
She said: "It's crazy. I never thought something like this would happen to a school like ours. I've loved Harry Potter since I was little so being able to have a conversation with him about his work was really cool."
Eva harbours dreams of becoming a published writer and said Ralph's advice has helped inspire her going forward to make her goals a reality. She added: "To hear his interpretations of how he thinks it should be done and how Shakespeare can be interpreted in the modern day was really interesting.
"The best piece of advice was because a lot of the speech was focused on ambition and we carried that on into the Q&A. It was to follow your own ambition and to work for what you want."
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