All the world is a stage at regional festival in Te Awamutu

Te Awamutu College Year 10 Drama students who will be performing a condensed version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo / Supplied Lexie Barnett (left), Honey Hughes-Pakeho, Imara Sahala, Leah Woodward, Kayla Chubb, Lauren Robinson, James Crowhurst, Karmyn Barnett, Rylee Phillips, Bonnie Dixon, Matthew Dickson, Lily Dixon. Absent: Dariyus Inger, Jaydon Philburn.

Te Awamutu College is hosting the Waikato Regional Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn (SGCNZ UOSW) Shakespeare Festival on Friday.

This is the first “in person” opportunity students have had to gather since the Covid disruptions sent the festival into digital mode two years ago.

Seven schools across the region have taken up the challenge of preparing five and 15-minute scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, including Te Aroha College, Cambridge High School, Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Hamilton Girls’ High School, Hamilton Boys’ High School Te Aroha College and hosts Te Awamutu College.

2023 is the 32nd festival season; starting with 32 regional events, followed by the national festival; held over King’s Birthday weekend in Wellington.

From there selected students will participate in the National Schools’ Shakespeare Production in the August school holidays leading to potential selection for the Young Shakespeare Company, which travels to London every April to study and perform at the Globe Theatre, London.

In 2022, local Year 13 student Sophie Jackson was selected to participate in the National Schools’ Shakespeare Production (NSSP) held in Dunedin, an opportunity she thoroughly enjoyed and found “inspirational”.

She described learning “so much” and came back excited to share her learning with her peers.

After the controversial decision by Creative NZ to not fund the festival in 2022, the Ministry of Education has stepped in to enable it to continue to offer outstanding opportunities for students to engage with Shakespeare’s works in performance; developing their collaborative and communication skills.

The Regional Shakespeare Festival will be held in the Te Awamutu College School Hall from 10am-2pm.

It is open to the public, for a small charge: $5 for adults, $3 for school-aged children.