Amy Blackmore hasn't stopped smiling since Monday night.
The Year 13 Woodford House student is beaming as she relays the phone call announcing she's been selected to perform and study at the Globe Theatre next year.
After a quick call to her grandmother, Amy ran into the school's common room and announced, "I'm going to London." There were screams and tears. No wonder the 17-year-old was still feeling overwhelmed.
Amy was one of 20 young actors hand-picked from across the country to travel to London in July for a three-week workshop at the Globe.
The young actor did not have many details, but knew the opportunity would involve working with world-class directors and culminate with a Shakespearean production at the famous theatre.
The coup followed a select nationwide training course at Otago University last month for 46 high school students.
The aspiring actors were chosen from 5500 hopefuls and studied the craft under three top theatre practitioners. They were up at 7am every morning, spent the day in workshops, lectures and rehearsals until 9pm, and then scrambled to learn lines into the wee hours.
Amy was still buzzing from the training. "They took things to a completely new level and pushed us out of our comfort zone every half an hour.
"The standard of talent was quite intimidating, and you fed off their talent," she said.
The students were assessed throughout the week.Adding to the pressure was knowing 20 of them would be selected for the annual London trip.
Amy's hard work paid off. She passed with straight As and took the lead in the troupe's end-of-course performance.
Josephine Carpenter has taught Amy speech and drama since the "country girl from a farm near Taupo" arrived at Woodford House as a Year 9.
Mrs Carpenter saw from day one that Amy was a natural on stage. "She has that spark about her. It's something inside, that X-factor.
"I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled. But I'm not surprised she got picked."
Woodford House student to perform at Globe Theatre
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