Pipers students become first children to resurrect 400 year old classic performance

On Monday 24 March, Rachael Fane’s May Masque (written in 1627) had its first child-performance in 400 years here at Pipers Corner School.

Directed by two students in Year 9 and performed by students in Years 5-8, the students replicated its original masque (performance) contexts. At only 13 years old, Rachael Fane wrote this masque by hand in a tiny hand-bound booklet which is now preserved in the Kentish Library and History Centre. In recent years, scholars have worked to uncover and honour Rachael’s work, ever since Dr Marion O’Connor discovered and transcribed this masque.

The students at Pipers brought this handwritten document to life with hard-work, creativity and innovation. They used a new transcription provided by Miss Bones in the Library team, which the Year 9 directors then made their own. These two Year 9 students worked tirelessly on the performance where they developed leadership skills through directing younger years, read university-level articles and even wrote their own lines of poetry for the script.

The actors auditioned and the directors were appointed after informal interviews. They then rehearsed from January-March and performed it for their parents just after the Spring Equinox. They did an incredible job and transported their audience back 400 years to when Rachael and her siblings first performed it for their household.

In this difficult piece, the students made sense of the challenging language and even picked up on its humour. Before the show, the students talked about their creative choices with Professor Deanne Williams, an expert in early modern girlhood from the University of York. Professor Williams was deeply impressed by their understanding and commitment, particularly the creativity and thoughtfulness of the Year 9 directors. The students went on to perform their dress rehearsal for Professor Williams and Professor Stephen Orgel, an expert in masques from Stanford University.

After the show, the students did an interview panel about their experiences where they answered questions on the masque and what they had learnt, sharing thoughtful insights with their parents. They should be hugely proud of themselves, and you can see pictures from the performance below.

Flickr album: May Masque 2025 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin