Shakespeare National Final Weekend 

Over the long weekend of Queen’s Birthday, a team of 32 travelled to Wellington for 4 days of Shakespeare.  The team from Kuranui College presented their take on “Pericles; the Prince of Tyre” to a stunned audience at the Michael Fowler Centre, competing against 48 schools.

The scene placed Pericles into a colonial New Zealand setting, pitting the wits of the sea faring Pericles against the local Maori people, severely contrasting the role and place of women within each society.  The scene was incredibly well received, and the students involved should be congratulated for their efforts.
As well as performing and watching the other schools, the group also took time to see cutting edge theatre- going to see Tiki Taane Mahuta – a collaboration with musician Tiki Tane, and choreographer Taane Mahuta, to enjoy an evening of storytelling through dance, drama, music, kapa haka and circus.
 
During the long weekend, they also took part in workshops designed to open minds and hone skills.  Some of these included tutors from the Globe Theatre, the Pop-up Globe, the LA Film Scene, and local experts. 
Some of the favourite experiences of the group included singing with the Black Friars theatre company from Auckland, using the script to help dramatise combat scenes, and hearing Shakespeare in the original pronunciation to open up a deeper understanding of the text.

The weekend has been described as inspirational and life changing for a huge number of the group.  The performers have already begun working on the ideas for next year’s regional competition.  The group were also highly successful, garnering 2 high awards – Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role for Thomas Laybourn (who stood out amongst over 800 other supporting role students), and the whole group recieved the Globe Assessors Award from Peter Hambleton for Outstanding Integration of Tikanga Maori within a scene.  
Following on from the weekend, Thomas Laybourn has also been selected to participate in the National Schools Shakespeare Production week in October.  Here he will be directed and perform a 45 minute excerpt from a Shakespearean play.  At the conclusion of the week, half the group will be selected to perform at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.  We wish him all the best.