To launch this year’s ninth Marlborough LitFest (September 27-30), three local primary schools will be performing their own version of a fairy tale in a ten minute pop-up tableau drama on the High Street at 11am on Thursday, (September 27).
Preshute C of E Primary’s Year 4 (8-9 years olds), led by their teacher Mrs Mary Mundy, will perform Jack and the Beanstalk outside Marlborough Library.
Aldbourne’s St Michael’s C of E Primary’s Year 3 (7-8 years old) led by their teacher Ben Jarvis will perform Peter Pan by the Jubilee Centre on Marlborough High Street.
Marlborough St Mary’s C of E Primary’s two Year 3 classes, led by Mrs Gisborne and Mrs Cannosa, will present Three Billy Goats Gruff outside The White Horse Bookshop.
These opening presentations follow last year’s opening ‘flash mob dance’ with scores of schoolchildren disguised as various wild beasts from Maurice Sendak’s ever-popular book Where the Wild Things Are.
Marlborough LitFest has also run its annual competition for local schoolchildren and this year there were 370 entries from local primary schools in its pop-up writing competition. This asked children to make their own pop-up version of well-known fairy tales.
The judges were overwhelmed by the standard as the nine and ten year olds came up with wonderful ‘Fairy Tales with a Twist’. The overall winner and Highly Commended entries in the different age groups will be presented with his/her prize after the Debi Evans author talk on Saturday afternoon in the White Horse Bookshop.
Haine and Smith opticians have sponsored this competition. Winning and Highly Commended entries will then be displayed in the Town Hall from Thursday afternoon and throughout the festival weekend for families to view.