Sheffield student, aged 16, hoping for arts festival success

A 16-year-old Sheffield schoolboy has been chosen to take part in a prestigious music, dance, drama and spoken word festival.

Declan Ryder, who is a student at Birkdale School, has been selected to perform at the British and International Federation of Festivals Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Regional Championships.

He will represent the Don Valley Music Festival, Speech and Drama section by performing Shakespeare’s famous ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy from Hamlet at the event, which will take place on Saturday, September 7 at the Leeds College of Music.