Black Country children's plays at RSC Stratford theatre

The children worked with RSC staff to write the plays

Some of the first writers to have works performed at the refurbished Royal Shakespeare Company's theatres have been pupils from the Black Country.

Around 300 children from 10 schools created plays based on Shakespearean ghost scenes.

The children's plays were performed in the main auditorium at Stratford-upon-Avon by drama students.

The RSC in Stratford reopened its main theatre and its Swan Theatre last month after a £112.8m renovation.

During November RSC directors and musicians worked with 50 college students, also from the Black Country, to rehearse the children's scripts. The plays were performed in Stratford in the first week of December.

The project, named Writing On Your Feet, is a joint initiative between the RSC's Education and Literary Departments, and the Black Country Creative Partnerships organisation.

Liisa Spink, from the RSC's Education Department said it was "appropriate" that some of the first voices heard in the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres were from the Black Country.

"There is evidence to suggest that those who originally performed Shakespeare's plays back in the 16th Century spoke with a similar accent," she said.