More than 100 students around the Whanganui, Manawatu and Rangitikei will tackle some of the hardest drama plays in history when they go head to head at the Regional Festival of Shakespeare this Sunday.
Whanganui Girls College will host five schools who have taken up the challenge of performing either a 15-minute or five-minute piece from any of Shakespeare's 38 plays.
The winner of each category will have the chance to perform their piece in Wellington at the National Festival of Shake-speare in June.
They will be assessed by Wellington actor and director Patrick Davies. Davies has performed in many of Shakespeare's plays and won international acclaim for his portrayal of James K Baxter in Jerusalem, Jerusalem which gained five stars at the Edinburgh Festival.
Whanganui High School has entered three of the 12 scheduled performances, including a group of Year 9 and 10 students who will be re-enacting a piece from A Midsummer Night's Dream. The school's other two groups will perform pieces from Romeo and Juliet and Henry V.