{"id":151804,"date":"2025-05-22T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/?p=151804"},"modified":"2025-05-22T08:29:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T06:29:41","slug":"learners-with-disabilities-steal-the-show-at-shakespeare-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/people\/learners-with-disabilities-steal-the-show-at-shakespeare-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Learners with Disabilities Steal the Show at Shakespeare Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time, learners from a special needs school in Brackenfell took to the stage at the 15th Shakespeare Schools Festival held in Cape Town over the weekend.\"\"<\/h2>\n

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Cape Town, South Africa (22 May 2025) \u2014 <\/em>The crowd cheered after the Paarl School for the Neural Disabled performance of an adaptation of William Shakespeare\u2019s A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em> at the District Six Homecoming Centre. Performers included learners with physical disabilities, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities.<\/p>\n

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Reeva Vetshe and Arlynn Conradie on stage during the 15th Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For many of the learners, it was their first time performing on \u201ca real stage\u201d, and some had not been to a theatre before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re physically disabled, it\u2019s very difficult for your family to take you places [like this],\u201d explained Alet Marais, the head of the intermediate phase at the school.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some learners decorated their wheelchairs with flowers. Others dressed in whimsical costumes and wore makeup. The auditorium echoed with laughter and cheers throughout the performance, which ended with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Marais says that because learners struggle with reading and writing, they chose not to use Elizabethan English in the play.<\/p>\n

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Alizwa Fanti checks his makeup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The performing group was made up of 24 learners, seven of whom use wheelchairs. They were assisted by seven teachers and three aides who helped the learners.<\/p>\n

Marais says that getting in and out of the theatre with wheelchairs was a challenge which the school solved with mobile ramps.<\/p>\n

The 15th Shakespeare Schools Festival runs until 31 May at the District Six Homecoming Centre, with performances by more than 45 drama groups.<\/p>\n

The festival aims to bring together children from different communities to perform adapted Shakespeare plays and to improve language, learning and social skills through the performing arts.<\/p>\n

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A special ramp was needed to assist those in wheelchairs onto the stage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Performers rush to get their makeup and costumes done.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Blessing Nyamayaro is ready for the stage after getting her makeup done.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The performers received a standing ovation from the audience during the curtain call.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sources: GroundUp<\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n
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