Gigi Lyndon, Niwa Leefe and Chloe Dangawen’s scene from “Much Ado About Nothing” has won the 5 minute student directed section of the Waikato Region Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Competition.

In “Much Ado About Nothing,” Claudio and Hero are getting married and their many friends are gathered for a week of celebrations. Two of those friends, Benedick and Beatrice, are engaged in a war of witty insults, scoffing that love and marriage is not for either of them. The engaged couple and their friends decide to play a game. They want to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall in love.

“It was a bit of a challenge to choose our scene,” explains Gigi Lyndon, who plays Hero. “We looked at so many scenes but nothing felt quite right. Then I was reminded that a HGHS group had done a scene from “Much Ado About Nothing” last year, and I had seen the HGHS/HBHS production of that play a few years ago and loved the banter between the characters. When I found this scene it was just obvious. This scene was just a version of everyday life at school. OK a bit over exaggerated, but still.”

In the chosen scene Hero and Ursula have tricked Beatrice into arriving in the garden just as they start gossiping about Benedick being in love with her. She hides and listens to the conversation.

“It’s just like high school gossip and drama,” claims Niwa Leefe, who plays Ursula. "We had a really short time to prepare the scene because it took us so long to find the right one, but once we got going it went so smoothly. We really identified with the characters and got to play mean girls for a bit. It’s not difficult to find characters in modern life to draw on for inspiration. Shakespeare’s work is so relatable in that way.”

The girls found the process enlightening as they developed their understanding of how people’s behaviour can affect others. “During rehearsals we really felt for Beatrice. Words really affect others and we felt that, every rehearsal. Those girls were using Beatrice for their own fun even if they meant well underneath it. They made her feel bad at times and to question herself which was a good and a bad thing, but quite painful for her,” explains Chloe, who plays Beatrice.

Despite the pressure to get the scene ready for filming, the ease with which it came together meant they presented a well polished piece and the judges felt the same. The girls will go to Wellington at Queen's Birthday weekend to take part in a series of workshops, perform their piece and watch performances from all over the country.

You can watch the “Much Ado About Nothing” 5 minute piece here -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5sgyPolOww

The Shakespeare Festival is sponsored by the University of Otago and run by the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand. Those selected to attend Nationals compete for a range of awards recognising every aspect of theatrical production and acting. HGHS submitted three entries this year - a teacher directed 15 minute piece from “Macbeth” and a second 5 minute student directed piece from “Twelfth Night” for the regional competition. A total of 24 HGHS students participated in the event.