SHAKESPEARE to enjoy was at the heart of 30th birthday celebrations held by Theatrix Performing Arts at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans.

The students, aged from four to 20, gave four performances of Shakesperience, a revue which included plenty of original writing and included scenes from West Side Story, a therapy session for Shakespeare’s troubled characters, film trailers for Hamlet and Julius Caesar and an antipodean version of King Lear.

There were also songs from the 1930s and 1960s, a wacky 10-minute version of Twelfth Night involving six actors and 25 hats and elves, witches and fairies.

Principal Rosemarie Partridge said: “The idea was that anybody of any age can enjoy Shakespeare – his stories, themes, characters and language. We wanted to create an evening of pure delight and entertainment and judging by the audience’s smiles and comments, we succeeded.”