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Otago Shakespeare Festival
 
Photo by Otago Daily Times

Otago Shakespeare Festival

Kristan Mouat —

Congratulations to our Shakespeare teams for their wonderful performances in April.

We had two student directed pieces in the Shakespeare festival. 

The Macbeth witches and apparition scene (Act 4 Sc 1) directed by Laura Cowles, Darcy Monteath, Sersha Forde and Ruby Hart was in the 5 minute section. Their blurb: "Our take of Macbeth and the three witches, follows the story of Macbeth and his dangerous ambition. This ambition is then tempted by the witches' magic and unity, as they offer him his eventual fate. Darcy played Macbeth with Laura, Sersha and Ruby playing the witches and apparitions. 

Laura Cowles was selected for the National festival in Wellington where 48 of the top actors in the country will perform. 

Our second piece in the 15 minute section was Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 4 Sc 1) directed by Marcus Davidson. Their blurb: "Two best friends fall out over the same woman and the resulting rivalry causes a series of unfortunate misunderstandings. In this section, we see Valentine, recently banished from Milan, captured by outlaws and forced to become their leader. Meanwhile, Sylvia runs away from Milan to search for Valentine, pursued by Proteus and Thurio, when she, too, is captured by outlaws. A showdown ensues...." 

They won Best Ensemble award and Best Choreography. Unfortunately they were disqualified for being 40 seconds over the time limit.

Actors:

Marcus Davidson, Director and The Duke

Floyd Hurley-Parry, Thurio

April McMillan Perkins, Julia

Oisin Benn, Valentine

Luke Rooney, Speed

Olivia Sefo, Outlaw

Midas Sim, Proteus

Jo Throp, Sylvia

Qrowe Brittenden, Outlaw