Shakespeare Festival 2024

This festival provides a fantastic opportunity for students to develop their theatrical abilities by forming groups and rehearsing a 5 minute or 15 minute scene from a Shakespeare play which is presented and judged at the festival.

5,500 secondary school students participate in this national event every year. There are regional competitions throughout the country and the winner of each section at each regional event is then invited to attend the national competition in Wellington.

This year Trinity has four groups entered who are each performing a different 5 minute scene. The scenes being performed are as follows:

The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 1 - This performance is set on a ship whose crew has found themselves stuck in the middle of a storm upon returning from a wedding in Italy. The scene, which is going to feature over 10 students, will incorporate some te reo Māori.

Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5 and Act 3, Scene 4 - These scenes are about a foolish servant named Malvolio who is tricked into thinking that a member of royalty, Olivia, is in love with him. This creates a comedic act.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Scene 2 and Act 3, Scene 1 - These scenes are about Titania who has a spell cast on her while she is asleep making her fall in love with the first thing she sees upon waking up. When she wakes up she sees Bottom who has just had a spell cast on him by Oberon so that he has the head of a donkey.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 2 - This scene is set in the forest and features four lovers who have got themselves into a tangle after Demetrius and Lysander are put under a magic spell.

The students involved in the Shakespeare Festival are looking forward to showcasing their performances as well as watching all the other secondary schools involved perform at the King’s and Queen’s High School Performing Arts Centre on Thursday 4 April.