The Jeremy Lemmon Project was established in 2019 to support drama training, creative collaboration, and access to higher education across state secondary schools in the London Borough of Harrow. Jeremy Lemmon was a teacher and director, who brought the first company of young people to perform a full-length production on the Globe’s (then only partially-built!) stage, in 1994.

In the inaugural Jeremy Lemmon Company 2020, sixth-form students from Hatch End High School, Nower Hill High School, Whitmore High School and Harrow School formed an acting company under the direction of the Globe’s practitioners, embarking on practical workshops and rehearsal sessions both at the schools and at the Globe. When national Covid restrictions halted ‘in-person’ collaboration in March 2020, the team worked tirelessly to find a way to deliver the project’s objectives online. In June 2020, the group became the first Globe company to present a Zoom showing – a performance format many more became familiar with in subsequent months!

The project has gone from strength to strength in the intervening years, with the fifth Jeremy Lemmon Project cohort recently presenting their culminating performance at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Students from nine different schools made up the 2024 company, selected from an audition day in which twelve schools attended workshops at the Globe, as well as a performance of Much Ado about Nothing.

Since 2022, the reach of the project has developed through the delivery of an annual training day offered to teachers from more than a hundred schools across north-west London, exploring practical approaches to Shakespeare in the classroom. In 2022, the project was recognised with a nomination in the Outstanding Drama Initiative category at the National Music and Drama Education Awards.

The project is about partnership between schools across North-West London, and collaboration – between sixth form students, and between teachers – through a shared exploration of Shakespeare’s language and creative vision.

Adam Cross, Director of Drama, Harrow School

I gained confidence in Shakespearean language and gained so many friends!

Student, Jeremy Lemmon Project Participant 2024

The people in my group encouraged me to push hard and the experience as a team was great.

Student, Jeremy Lemmon Project Participant 2024

An excellent, thought-provoking, skills-establishing experience led with expertise and encouragement.

Teacher, Jeremy Lemmon Project CPD Participant 2024

We are grateful to the individual donors who have supported the project since its inception. The project has also been funded by Harrow School, the Harrow Development Trust, and the Old Harrovian Players.

FINIS.