"LORD, what fools these mortals be!"

Visitors may well have found themselves uttering this famous line as farcical scenes unfolded amid the bookshelves and display boards at Barrow library, as MOLLY LYNCH discovered.

Yet the posturing and prancing of costumed school pupils against the backdrop of an enchanted wood had the noblest of purposes - celebrating national Shakespeare Week.

The serene settings were transformed to provide a makeshift stage for pupils for a very special performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from Year Six at St Paul’s C of E Junior School in Barrow.

And unruly behaviour had more to do with the confusing plot twists involving love potions and spells scattered throughout one of the Bard’s best-loved comedies.

The day began with warm-up exercises designed to familiarise the children - and teachers - with the fairy queens, lovestruck mortals, betrothed suitors and aspiring actors who make up the vast array of characters.

Fairy wings and donkey ears were handed out to the budding actors as they got to grips with the language of Tudor England.

Then came a task which would be daunting for the most experienced of thespians - performing the whole play in less than an hour. Yet these youngsters took it in their stride, splitting into groups to come up with their own take on particular scenes.

And a sign of how seriously the children of St Paul’s take their craft, barely a giggle could be heard as the character Bottom transformed into an ass.

Lola Edwards, aged 10, who took on the role of Hermia, said: “I like doing drama. Shakespeare is quite old-fashioned, but acting it out helped me understand it more.

“We all worked together in our group to decide how we were going to do it. I think I’d maybe do a proper Shakespeare play one day.”

Following the performance, library archivist Susan Benson brought out materials from Tudor Britain to help provide the children with the historical context of Shakespeare’s work. This included a charter for Urswick Grammar School granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1585.

Children rather literally got the royal seal of approval as they got up close to another local charter complete with the wax stamped signature used in the official correspondence the Virgin Queen.

Teacher Emma Nixon said: “Shakespeare is so difficult to teach, so this is fantastic. When we were invited we jumped at the chance. The children love drama and I think being able to bring the play to life has helped them.

“Shakespeare is huge part of language and tradition and it’s taught in secondary schools so this is a good introduction. We teach British values at St Paul’s too and appreciation of Shakespeare links really well with that.

“They’ve been working really hard revising for SATs so this has been a lovely morning, seeing them lose their inhibitions. They’ve all thrown themselves into it, I’m very proud. They’re a credit to their school.”

The event was organised with the help of Barrow library’s community services officer Cathy Fidler with the help of learning materials provided by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

She said: “We did something similar last year but it was a public event, so this time we thought we’d invite a school along.

“It’s been really good. We haven’t had a single episode of shyness; they’ve all really got into it and hopefully taken something positive from it.

“We’re always looking to work with more schools here at the library, so if any are interested in an event like this then they can get in touch.”