Brooke Walford is a second year student at Hagley Theatre Company. Over the summer she was put forward by Artistic Director, Cameron Mattox, to work with a West Coast company on their production of Antigone. Here is a bit of a Q&A with Brooke where she shares her experience of the play and also how her 2022 year has started back at HTC.

Q. Hi Brooke, thanks for taking the time to chat. I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about the company you worked with over the summer?

A. They are a local West Coast, Blackball company called Kiwi Possum. They put on shows in different locations every year. This year we used the old Blackball bathhouse built around 1940s. Concrete walls, no roof, old drains, worn down. It was pretty awesome because it was on the edge of a hill and you got beautiful views and the sound would echo.

Q. And could you please summarise what the play Antigone is about?
A. Antigone is a Greek tragedy about a woman, Antigone, who had two brothers. One of them was with The Resistance. The brothers died fighting each other. The king forbade the traitor to be buried with his brother. Antigone made it her mission to see them buried together. It's a play about morals and tradition and family conflict.

Q. Were there any challenges that arose?
A. Yeah. The play goes back to origins of being quite violent on stage. Some scenes had to be quite violent; Antigone goes through torture. I was out of my comfort zone but the people were very nice and scenes were highly choreographed.
Also, travel. I was there for a week and a half and got quite homesick. The Red Light Covid settings stopped our Hokitika show.

Q. Do you have any highlights to share?
A. Travel was a highlight, the fact I would travel all the way to the Coast to perform made it special. Antigone was my first lead character, and it gave me a chance to get a grip on a character. Doing something that is an older text, connecting to traditional roots. It was a small production and we did everything ourselves, with no crew - that was also a highlight.

Q. You've been back at HTC just over a month. What have you been studying in that time?
A. We're working on our current Scene+ season. It feels really good to be back, as we have a more light-hearted season this year. We're doing dance, SLAM Poetry, everything. Being a second year student, we're learning directing, which I love. It's great to be properly taught, as I co-directed the Year 13 production in 2020 but didn't have any training. So far this year, we've learnt the importance of connecting with people. This is at the core of what we're doing.

Q. Does 2nd year feel different to 1st year?
A. Yeah, you get more responsibility. We build everything, set everything up, do the lighting and sound. We build on everything we learnt in first year. Time management, preparation, everything.

Q. Do you have any personal goals you want to achieve with HTC this year?
A. To be able to look at myself perform and go 'yeah, I did well'. You've always got to back yourself.

Q. What's coming up?
A. Scene+ April 5 - 9. I hear that a collaboration may be part of this! Watch this space.

Thanks Brooke! We look forward to seeing you in action this year.