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Sexey's School perform The Tempest

Sexey’s school put on a Shakespearian production.

News 1960 6 mins Silent

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Overview

Pupils from Sexey’s school perform and are filmed in a production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Founded in 1889 Sexey’s School in Bruton Somerset is named after Hugh Sexey who was appointed Royal auditor to Elizabeth I in 1599. In 1898 the school moved from its temporary premises on Quaperlake Street to its modern day site in 1898 and for many years it operated as a grammar school. Sexey’s is one of the largest co-educational state boarding schools in the country.

The play is thought to have been written in 1610-11 and is set on a remote island. The sorcerer and rightful Duke of Milan Prospero conjures up the tempest to restore his daughter Miranda to her place at court. The tempest brings to the island the scheming King of Naples Alonso, his son Ferdinand who falls instantly for Prospero’s daughter Miranda, his brother Sebastian and the usurper and Prospero’s brother the Duke of Milan, Antonio. Three plots unfurl; Caliban a deformed monster raised by Prospero who falls in with two drunkards Stephano and Trinculo; a love affair between Ferdinand and Miranda; and a conspiracy by Antonio and Sebastian to kill Alonso and Gonzalo thwarted by the spirit Ariel.