Famous stage actors of the future were getting their first taste of the spotlight, coached by Drama students from De Montfort University, in celebration of Shakespeare.
Dozens of young performers took to the stage in Leicester's historic Guildhall to give their take on the Bard's Taming of the Shrew, in a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.
The youngsters, from three local primary schools, have been working with students on DMU's Drama Studies BA course over the past five weeks, learning the basics of acting, understanding the characters and enjoying the Elizabethan language.
The result was a performance in front of proud mums and dads of three key scenes from the play, from the beginning, middle and end, all set against the atmospheric backdrop of the 14th century building's aged timbers.
With the standing ovations still ringing around the room, 10-year-old Logan Dean, of Stokes Wood Primary School, said he'd managed to overcome his shyness to take to the stage.
He said: "I liked how we learnt how to be funny and excited on stage. I didn't really know much about Shakespeare and I found the language hard to pronounce but we learned what it meant and that made it easier."
Drama Studies BA student Georgie Lower said she and her classmates had been visiting the pupils in three schools - Stokes Wood, Shaftesbury Junior and Braunstone Community - over the past five weeks.
The 19-year-old said: "We wanted to make Shakespeare as engaging as we could and this has been a real challenge because we've had to try and get past the language and get to what makes drama and performing so exciting.
"We simplified some of the text so the children could understand what they were saying and what their characters were thinking.
"We've just been so impressed by the way they gained confidence, from being hesitant at first, they're so bright and full of character now."
Neil Mawby, teacher at Shaftesbury Junior, said the children had responded well to the students.
He said: "They bring a new approach, completely different energy. The children get a bit used to their teacher so it really engages them.
"A lot of children are first introduced to Shakespeare by reading it aloud in class and the experience can be so off-putting that they steer clear for life. This will hopefully set them up to really gain an appreciation of Shakespeare's work."
The performance was one of the many events DMU has helped put on to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, marked across the world on April 23.
Over in DMU's Heritage Centre, Professor Dominic Shellard, Vice-Chancellor of DMU, together with Dr Siobhan Keenan, Reader in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, celebrated the launch of their new book, Shakespeare's Cultural Capital.
The book examines the economic and social impact of Shakespeare's work since the 16th century, with chapters written by different academics, looking at the Bard's impact in Hollywood, the economic benefits he may have brought to Leicester and the difficulty in defining exactly what Shakespeare actually wrote - and even what words he really used.
Posted on Friday 22 April 2016