Children at Cherry Grove Primary school are living the dream to perform at Shakespeare’s birthplace in the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death.

The 90 Year 3 and 4 children, who recently staged a performance of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in their school hall, have been chosen to perform at the Shakespeare Playmaking Festival in Stratford in July.

During preparations for the play, the youngsters worked with North West Drama and Chester-based dance company Fallen Angels to explore the characters and themes of the comedy.

They explored issues including human rights and worked with their parents to design their own costumes. The children also had the opportunity to compose musical scores for different characters and introduced modern songs to bring the play into the 21st century.

Head of drama from neighbouring Bishops’ High School Andy Clarkson and DJ Richard Leigh lent Cherry Grove lighting to really help set the scene and the children were shown how to position the lights to create the best effect.

Guest of honour at the school performance in March was Sheriff of Chester Alex Black and his Lady Janet Black.

Since discovering their success in the Royal Shakespeare Company bid, the youngsters have been raising cash to pay for coaches to Stratford by arranging cake sales with a particular favourite being Bottom’s magic muffins.