Chloe off on trip of a lifetime to Globe Theatre

Taupo-nui-a-Tia College head girl Chloe Jacques, pictured at the Pop-Up Globe Theatre in Auckland, has headed to the UK with the Young Shakespeare Company.

Taupo-nui-a-Tia College's head girl, Chloe Jaques, got more than she bargained for when she took up drama as a Year 12 student in 2016.

Her path's taken her from participating in one of the college's entries in the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival to joining the Young Shakespeare Company on a trip to study at the Globe Theatre in London.

"When I was first informed about my selection for the Young Shakespeare Company, I thought they had rung the wrong person," she said.

National Shakespeare Schools Production is a competition in which students act in short scenes from Shakespeare's plays, all gunning for the opportunity to be selected to travel to London and attend Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Here they will work with professional drama actors to build skills in the performing arts.

On the three-week trip the group will be assigned a Globe director to work with on a Shakespeare play which they will perform at the Globe.

They will tour Stratford-upon-Avon, and have performances, workshops and rehearsals.

Chloe's selection for the Young Shakespeare Company was unexpected given the 17-year-old originally only took drama at school as a plan B.

She said drama originally was a fill-in subject, but based on her 14-year background in classical and modern dance, drama teacher Vivienne Gowdy suggested she would fit right in.

"So taking drama was a bit of a fluke."

For Chloe, the trip opens up the world of acting and Shakespeare on an international scale.

While working alongside "some extremely passionate and generous people", Chloe intended to work hard on her trade, because Shakespeare's Globe "expects the best".

As a youngster, Chloe claimed she "was absolutely terrified of acting ... ask me to recite a monologue and I would run screaming".

As a confidence booster, she decided to join Zenith, Taupo-nui-a-Tia College's speech club, when she began high school.

Chloe left Taupo last Friday to begin her journey to the United Kingdom.

"I have chosen to take up this opportunity because it is a once in a lifetime experience. I will gain skills, experiences, and friends I will cherish for the rest of my life and I absolutely cannot wait."

Chloe will be joined on the Young Shakespeare Company trip to London by Tauhara College student Monique Doig.