Shaking up Shakespeare

The Ugly Shakespeare Company’s mission to make Shakespeare accessible and entertaining to students was on display when they brought their hilarious one-hour interpretation of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, titled ‘The Dream’, to the Saint Kentigern Girls’ School Year 7 and 8 students. Despite unexpected weather cancelling the planned workshop, the girls still had the opportunity to interact with the performers including one of their teachers, Ms Sharon Tuck, who performed as Duke Theseus. With three actors brilliantly portraying fifteen characters and modernised elements such as King Oberon as a rapper, the performance was a hit with our young audience. The show was more than just entertainment. It provided an opportunity for students to experience the immediacy and interaction that live theatre offers and engage with contemporary New Zealand theatre written by local playwrights. The Year 7 and 8 girls who had spent Term 1 delving into ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in Speech and Drama classes were particularly excited to see the play come to life. The Year 8s will be using the performance as inspiration for devising their Speech NZ advanced junior oral assessments, which they are currently working towards.

Along with the laughter and craziness, the show challenged our students’ thinking and presented issues contextual to their lives. The Ugly Shakespeare Company proved once again that they are masters at shaking the fear out of Shakespeare.