BACKOver King’s Birthday Weekend, Lincoln Goodgame, Rosie Lenik, Maxwell (Max) Lloyd and Daniel Tennant travelled to Wellington to compete in the SGCNZ Victoria University of Wellington National Shakespeare Festival. This is a prestigious event in which students from around New Zealand come together to learn more about their craft and to spend two days performing their qualifying Shakespeare scenes in the iconic St James Theatre. This is followed by an awards ceremony in which groups are recognised for excellence in a range of skills.
Our team of four, directed by Lloyd, performed a scene from Othello in which Iago (Lloyd), the villain of the play, conspires with Roderigo (Tennant) to get Cassio (Goodgame) drunk in order to get him demoted, with Montano (Lenik) the unwary witness to the results of their machinations. The scene stood out for its well-structured and intriguing staging, its use of music, its deft and creative audience engagement and its convincing stage combat.
At the awards ceremony, our students received the Outstanding Student-Directed Ensemble Work Award. Max Lloyd was also awarded two individual honours: the Most Promising Actor Award, donated by the late Sam Wanamaker, and the Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington Raukaraka Performance and Innovation Scholarship.
Max Lloyd and Lincoln Goodgame are also among only 48 students selected from across Aotearoa to advance to the National Shakespeare School Production. Of these, 24 will be given the chance to travel to London, where they will workshop and perform at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
“Our group had heaps of fun at the SGCNZ National Shakespeare Festival. It was a fantastic weekend filled with workshops, performances, and opportunities to meet new people. It was super inspiring to be in a theatre full of students who were just as passionate about Shakespeare as the rest of us. Being down in Wellington was an awesome time and we hope that other Rangitoto College students continue to participate in the Festival in the future.” – Max Lloyd
