A cast of 40 students showed their talent as they staged a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth for three nights.

Pupils at St Mary’s, Menston, brought the performance to the school stage under the guidance of their drama teachers, Claire Andrews and Emma Exworthy.

The play is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most powerful tragedies and tells the story of Macbeth, a brave Scottish general who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland.

Assistant head teacher at St Mary’s David Geldart congratulated all cast and crew involved in the production.

He said: “The entire cast and crew worked extremely hard for months to make the performances a resounding success. Sixth form student George Bilenko was outstanding as Macbeth and Millie Malir, cast as Lady Macbeth, made such a difficult role appear easy. Other notable performances came from Maddie Tysoe, Aimee Goodman and Keira Heckman who played the Witches.”

Miss Andrews, who directed and produced the show, said: “The performances this week have taken my breath away. The dedication and talent of the cast has been inspirational. They have rehearsed, prepared and performed with such professionalism that they could have graced any stage.”

Mr Geldart added: “As members of the audience remarked, this was far more than a ‘school production’ with performances of the very highest quality, acknowledged by all those lucky enough to attend.

“Months of hard work from students and staff went into making the play a wonderful success and all concerned deserve the very highest praise for their dedication and effort. There would appear to be no end to talented students at St Mary’s and we are blessed with members of staff who are prepared to nurture and develop this talent by providing unique and exceptional opportunities.”