AT 7pm on Thursday night, the curtain went up on thousands of pupils all over the country, performing mini adaptations of Shakespeare plays in a grand celebration of the Bard.

As part of the Shakespeare in Schools Festival, the Octagon hosted four schools, Rumworth, Westhoughton High, Canon Slade, and Sacred Heart RC Primary as they staged Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Macbeth and Twelfth Night.

Venue director Chris Hallam rounded off the evening with generous feedback on each of the presentations, commenting on the energy of conflict communicated in Rumworth's play, and the moving sense of the love between Romeo and Juliet. He praised Westhoughton High for bringing together such a difficult play as The Tempest, Canon Slade for conveying the witches' power and the prevailing sense of darkness in Macbeth, and the joy in Sacred Heart's Twelfth Night.

Alice Parrott and James Woods deserve mention for holding the stage with their strong and clear representations of Lady Macbeth and Macduff.

But it has to be said that the show was stolen by Jack Foy of Sacred Heart as Malvolio. He transformed a deadpan jobsworth servant into a hilariously yellow-stockinged comic who brought the house down — and prompted well deserved spontaneous applause as he left the stage.

Like many other arts projects, the Shakespeare in Schools Festival is under serious threat from lack of funding. But the vast rewards of what must be a small investment were delivered in spades for the participants and the Octagon audience. It's a festival that must be preserved. Mr Hallam urged audience members to donate by texting WILL35 and £2, £5 or £10 to 70070.