We are on the countdown to Wellington! When you read this, we will be on our way. Excitement is mounting!


For the ninth time in eleven years, students from Twizel Area School will ‘tread the boards’ at the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival (SGCNZUOSW Shakespeare Festival). Bit of a mouthful that, but it helps us to recognise the major sponsors who ensure that this festival happens year after year!


The festival is based in the Michael Fowler Centre and Wellington East Girls College from 2 - 5 June. The programme is jam-packed with activities, workshops, optional tours, special guest performances, placing calls and of course the forty-eight schools’ 5 or 15-minute Shakespearean performances. 


The T.A.S. students who will be taking part in the festival are Lily Brophy, Monique van der Westhuizen, and Louie Skinner. On the trip and in Wellington they will be accompanied by Anne Sweney and Kay and Neil Potter.  The team’s 15-minute excerpt from ‘Twelfth Night’ will be performed Sunday 5 June at approximately 1.20 pm on the 18 metre wide Michael Fowler Centre Stage. The actors have had to adjust their performance accordingly!


Getting to the SGCNZUOSW Shakespeare Festival requires a lot of planning and fundraising. The team would particularly like to acknowledge and thank; TAS Home and School, TAS Board of Trustees, Foodstuffs Community Trust, The Op Shop and The Top Hut for their support. Also, thanks to Nyree Schaar (costuming), John van Mulbregt (set) and Anne Sweney (singing).


Students offered the following comments about going to the Wellington Festival:

Lily: ‘A mix of excitement and nerves. I’m looking forward to being on the stage and representing TAS.’

Monique: ‘Fourth year running! I’m still nervous but very much looking forward to it’

Louie: ‘Really excited but also nervous – thinking about how my talent measures up to others.’


Now all these students need to do; is pack, travel by van to Picton, brave the Cook Strait, unload the set, get into their costumes and makeup, remember their lines, overcome stage fright, and perform to the very best of their ability! We are sure that they will do Twizel, and themselves proud.