SHEILAH WINN SHAKESPEARE
Back Row : Camille Howie , Zoe Loza , Gus Klingender , William Leary , Sophie McIntosh , Poppy Buller , Clay Hanham Second Row : Mabel Wilton , Maddy Cornes , Adam Neilson , Braden Sycamore , Josh Folkers , Oscar Holm ,
Benjamin Fowler , Jade Hanham ( Teacher ) Front Row : Jenna Baker , Zoe Congalton , Becs Cadenhead , Renee Thompson , Jasmine Macdonald , Alexis Ormond ,
Anahera Pharazyn Absent : Charlie Power , Savannah Ogborn , Thomas Heaps , Silvia Johnston , Emilie-Rose Wood
William Shakespeare once wrote : “ All the world ’ s a stage , and all the men and women merely players .” After weeks of rehearsals directed by Year 13 drama student Renee Thompson , twenty-five junior and senior students descended at the Blyth Theatre at Iona College for the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Regional Festival . HNHS competed against other schools in Hawke ’ s Bay ; performing extracts from various Shakespearean plays . The final performance of the night was from a group of senior students who performed a five-minute scene from The Tempest . The dialogue between characters , shouting from the mariners , movement from the dancers , the crashing sounds of thunder filling the auditorium , and the pulsating beat from Prospero all combined to make for a very intense theatrical piece . It received awards for Best Design , Best Audience Interaction , and Best Use of Music . The performance was also selected to be performed at the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare National Festival held in Wellington during Queens Birthday Weekend . It was a stressful couple of months between regionals and nationals , having had a mere one rehearsal without any cast absences , but , we crammed into a school van and sang karaoke for five hours on the way , hyping ourselves up for the busy four days that followed . In true Wellington fashion , it was truly miserable weather on the festival ’ s opening day , but it began with two workshops each held at Wellington East Girls ’ College , chosen individually by the students prior to the festival , with a range of more than 10 workshops on offer . We also took a tour of Toi Whakaari , New Zealand Drama School , and then had a look at the massive venue we would be performing in , the Michael Fowler Centre . The next ( long ) day was filled with Shakespeare , watching
half of the incredible 49 performances at the festival . We managed to squeeze in some time to roam the city that afternoon like true tourists before returning to our accommodation for our nightly card games , gossip sessions , and vending machine raids . The following day was our turn - we took to the huge stage to perform a five-minute excerpt from ‘ The Tempest ’, eventually winning the award for Best Use of Space at the prizegiving later that evening , which was a huge achievement considering we hadn ’ t even run through the scene on the stage yet . Our final morning in Wellington was a quick visit to Parliament to hear some feedback from the adjudicators , a trip to the supermarket for some road trip snacks , and then we were off back to Hawke ’ s Bay .
Adam Neilson and Alexis Ormond
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