Te Puke Rep’s Shakespeare in Shorts coming

Nicole Petuha and Colleen Pye in rehearsal for Shakespeare in Shorts.

Te Puke Repertory’s upcoming production, Shakespeare in Shorts, is certain to amuse, move and entertain the audience.

It is a selection of some of the best Shakespearean scenes and monologues compiled and directed by Owen Force.

While he was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Owen is now a local.

He has a vast experience of theatre, particularly Shakespearean, from his time in high school, appearing in many plays and musicals through to university, where he majored in theatre. He has also studied opera and painting.

After university, he had a career at a professional repertory theatre in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Many of the years that followed involved working with the plays of William Shakespeare which led to a lifelong love and passion for his work.

Owen is now bringing his experience to the Litt Park stage.

“‘It has been fun,” says Owen. “We have chosen some great pieces by The Bard. The audience are in for a very entertaining evening.”

One example is an extract from The Taming of the Shrew with performances by Colleen Pye and Nicole Petuha. Many will be familiar with this comedy about a battle of the sexes between the willful Katherine and the cunning Petruchio.

Colleen is, of course, very familiar to regulars at Te Puke Repertory but for Nicole, this is a first. She is, though, a very experienced performer from Wellington theatres, and is the Te Puke High School drama teacher and an accomplished dance tutor.

Owen says she is another example of exciting new talent that will be on show.

“We have such good talent and what we have tried to do with this show is to make Shakespeare fun and interesting for people who might not be that familiar with his work.

“I think we have done that, and I believe anyone would enjoy this production.”

Shakespeare in Shorts season runs from June 18-22 with tickets available at www.eventspronto.co.nz/tprs