Gisborne students succeed at Shakespeare festival

Lytton High School students performing Much Ado About Nothing at the University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival.

Tairāwhiti has been successfully represented by Campion College (Macbeth) and Lytton High School (Much Ado About Nothing) at a national Shakespeare festival.

The students were participating at the Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival over King’s Birthday weekend.

Campion received an award for Outstanding Movement/Dance for Macbeth, and Lytton’s Reaf Dittmar won the award for Most Promising Actor.

Reaf was also selected for the National Shakespeare Schools Production, along with Logan Brown from Campion.

The 48 performances by selected groups from throughout the country began with a powerful 15-minute scene from Julius Caesar, complete with “countrymen and women” “planted” in the audience.

A scene delivered by two Waipapa Youth Theatre actors from The Taming of the Shrew was deemed most thought-provoking, dealing with the issues of misogyny, abuse and manipulation of women. This scene provided useful classroom discussions on these and other related topics.

There were performances of less commonly performed plays, including Troilus & Cressida, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and an innovative dramatised version of Venus and Adonis.

The were also 20 workshops which enriched the knowledge and skills of some participants, and introduced potential occupations to others.

These covered a breadth of disciplines, from writing, devising, improvisation, stand-up comedy, clowning, musical theatre, singing, voice, stage combat, weaponry, design, costuming, directing and, of course, acting on stage and screen, taken by well-respected and experienced tutors.

Over 138,500 students have now participated in Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ’s festivals, and another 7500 in its other programmes.