Jacob Waugh wants to share what he learned during his time at Shakespeare's Globe in London this year. Photo / Cameron Baker
Jacob Waugh wants to share what he learned during his time at Shakespeare's Globe in London this year. Photo / Cameron Baker
After performing on the greatest stage in history, Eli Hancock and Jacob Waugh are going from Globe to Globe.
As part of the Young Shakespeare Company selected by the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, the Palmy friends spent two weeks in London in July taking part in workshops, tours and rehearsals. They also got to perform on the stage of the cultural landmark.
Hancock and Waugh’s theatre company Shakespeare’s North Productions is staging The Winter’s Tale on January 30-31 and February 2-3.
Hancock is the director and Waugh plays Leontes,King of Sicily.
Waugh says his time in London opened his eyes to what is out there and how much untapped potential there is in people. Inside everyone is the ability to be great, it is just a matter of finding it and bringing it out.
Feeling fortunate to have had that cool experience, the 19-year-old wants to share what he learned.
“When I stood on the Globe stage, I felt heavy; felt the weight of what that moment meant. It’s surreal to imagine yourself tracing the footsteps of some of the greatest actors ever. As I looked up at the sky from the stage, I felt a sense of belonging wash over me.”
Waugh studied law and psychology at Victoria University of Wellington this year and returns in 2024.
Eli Hancock is directing Shakespeare's North Productions' The Winter's Tale. Photo / Cameron Baker
Hancock, 18, is impressed with the work ethic of the 11-strong young cast and how well they gel together.
He has set The Winter’s Tale in the 1920s jazz era, with the close-knit family having Mafia ties.
The setting gives the characters an edge as they tell a story about family and relationship breakdown, jealousy, greed and grief.
While some critics consider it to be one of Shakespeare’s problem plays because of the shift from drama to comedy, Hancock says it is a story he wants to tell.
He and Waugh had done a scene from The Winter’s Tale before and wanted to tell the whole story.
Until July, Hancock had never left New Zealand and had been to the South Island once. His time in London was phenomenal and the calibre of the performances he saw was an unbelievable experience.
He is a supervisor at Woolworths Awapuni.
Kate Coutts plays Leontes’ wife Hermione. The 17-year-old has just finished Year 12 at Palmerston North Girls’ High School.
It is her first time being in a Shakespeare play.
She met Hancock when they were both in Oklahoma!, a joint Boys’ High and Girls’ High production.
Jesse Franks, 17, plays Polixenes the King of Bohemia and Leontes’ childhood friend.
He is in the Rector’s Company Shakespeare group at Boys’ High.
He loves Shakespeare’s work and won the Best Voice Projection Award at the national Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival this year.
Kate Coutts (Hermione, Queen of Sicily) and Jesse Franks (Polixenes, King of Bohemia) learn their lines for The Winter's Tale.
Matthew Wongchoti met Hancock and Waugh through a Shakespeare production at Boys’ High. He has been working with them since Year 11 and says it is fun to continue.
The 17-year-old has just finished Year 12. Like Franks, he was also in The Tragedy of Macbeth, staged by Shakespeare’s North Productions in February and Hancock’s directorial debut.
Wongchoti plays Camillo, a Sicilian nobleman, and is keen on acting.
He says he has got more used to Shakespeare’s works and sees the writing as unique instead of a challenge.
He has to really dissect the language so he is acting but also learning how language works.
Hancock is a great director with good ideas and provides a real sense of leadership, while Waugh is an incredible actor, Wongchoti says.
Jacob Waugh (left) plays Leontes in The Winter's Tale. He is rehearsing with Matthew Wongchoti (Camillo).
Boys’ High teacher Philip Mills is the vocal coach for the production. Waugh says Mills has such a massive brain for Shakespeare that they cherish having him in the room.
Shakespeare’s North Productions is offering three seating options for The Winter’s Tale - onstage, below the stage with the actors, and standard.
