Young thespian of the year

A TALENTED youngster from Warrington has earned the title “Young Thespian of the Year” at a prestigious arts festival.
Apurva Jain, 15, from Appleton gained the title and the hotly-contested Pam Young Challenge Shield at the Alderley Edge Festival.
Apurva, a pupil at Manchester High School for Girls, said: “It feels amazing to be ‘Young Thespian of The Year’. I definitely wasn’t expecting it since this was my first year competing at this festival and I have been concentrating on studying for my exams.
“I love the stage and have been involved in performances such as Macbeth and The Wind in The Willows at Manchester High. A career in Performing Arts is definitely an option in the future but I am also interested in Medicine so we will have to see!”
For her audition, Apurva performed an extract from the novel “Noughts and Crosses” by Malorie Blackman, a piece from the play “Roots” by Arnold Wesker and the poem “Deportation” by Carol Ann Duffy.
Alderley Edge Festival chairman Keith Lowe said: “Apurva was among some very talented thespians in this competition but deservedly won the class with her wonderful enthusiasm and, more importantly, in the way she captured the attention of the audience – and kept it. A talent indeed!”
Apurva has completed her grade 6 London Academy of Music and Art (LAMDA) examination and is now working towards grade 7. In other festivals she has won awards for solo acting and monologues, including “Junior Solo Artist of the Year” and “Best Junior Monologue.”
The Alderley Edge Festival was founded in 1916 and is a celebration of the arts, with over 200 competition classes covering a wide variety of genres. It aims to encourage and provide a conduit through public performances for young children to express themselves through music, speech and drama and to showcase and nurture this talent in the performing arts.
Pictured: Apurva with her shield