On the second of April, the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival was held at Botany Downs College. The festival is an event filled with students ranging from many schools, showcasing off their hard work and effort they all have put into the performances; and of course showing their admiration for Shakespeare’s works. A variety of students from across the houses participated.
Some students extracted from the most iconic pieces of Shakespeare, such as Romeo and Juliet, while some others stuck to the niches most people wouldn’t be aware of.
The group who performed A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, won the competition and will be competing at the University of Otago in June. The actors involved were Liliana Relf (Te Kanawa), Nethra Tennakoon (Kupe), Lucy Jurd, Tanisha Khan, and Tamzin Scullard (all Mansfield). Their hardwork and dedication put them through to competing against New Zealand’s best teams and schools. To add onto that, their five minute performance was purely student-directed.
While it is exciting to hear about how our students are heading towards the national stage, there are other noticeable acknowledgements.
Damien Hollins (Hillary) showcased their sword dexterity between them and groupmate Dani Gonzalez Castro (Mansfield), ultimately winning an $180 workshop stage and sword workshop with NZ Stage and Screen Combat School.
Nicholas Cao (also Hilliary) was awarded ‘Best Tree’ accompanied by many speeches about hard work and dedication about working yourself way through the acting industry given by the judges.
The Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival has been a spectacle for all who participated, and good luck to our students heading towards the national competition in Wellington!
April 4th, 2023
Emma Li
