Monday 19th October to Friday 23rd October.

A professional Rugby League Club is not usually associated with the ‘Immortal Bard’ William Shakespeare but Keighley Cougars have broken the mould.

During the last two years nationally-recognised Shakespearean Kieron Jones teacher from ‘Shakespeare Works’ organisation based in Bath has come to the Co-operative Championship One club at Cougar Park to deliver workshops to schoolchildren in the Keighley Area.

Originally the Shakespearean experience, which is also provided to Premiership Soccer and Rugby Union clubs, was staged at Cougar Park but it is now being run in the more ‘medieval’ environment in the barn at Keighley’s East Riddlesden Hall.

The event has grown dramatically and this year the Cougar Pride Centre, the ‘Playing for Success’ educational facility connected to Keighley Cougars Rugby League Club at Cougar Park, is introducing a ‘Shakespeare re-invigorated Festival’ across the whole of Bradford district.

Staged at four different centres around Bradford it is anticipated that up to 1,000 Year Six students (Age group: 9-10) from both Keighley and Bradford will be taking part in the Shakespearean event.

Liz Kidman, the Cougar Pride Centre Manager, said: ”During the time we’ve run these superb workshops, I’ve watched students suddenly ‘get’ Shakespeare and realise that he was a superb story teller.

“When his stories are broken down into bite-sized chunks, then William Shakespeare crosses all the cultural divides. Kieron Jones is an inspirational teacher and it is a privilege for us to be holding this festival in Keighley and Bradford”

The Cougar Pride Centre works hand-in-hand with the successful Keighley Cougars and during the Shakespearean event there may be opportunities for the school children meet some of the Cougar players and see the Co-operative Championship One Grand Final trophy that the Cougars won two weeks ago.

The venues for the Festival are:

* East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley – Monday and Tuesday
* Victoria Hall, Saltaire. – Wednesday
* Parkland School , Bradford – Thursday
* Future House, Bolling Road Bradford - Friday