Christ’s College sets national Shakespeare stage scene
16 Apr 2025
Christ’s College has won a place at the Sheilah Winn University of Victoria National Shakespeare Festival in Wellington at King’s Birthday weekend.
Directed by Year 12 student Charlie Wood, the 12 College actors performed a 15-minute scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream to seal one of the two top spots at the regional competition. Their exceptionally comedic and brilliantly executed play-within-a-play scene, which featured actors from Years 9 to 13, had the audience in stitches and was also awarded Best Ensemble by festival judges Josiah Morgan and Elisa Jones.
These budding thespians have the opportunity to take part in a variety of workshops run by industry professionals, as well as restaging their performance in St James Theatre alongside other schools from all over the country. The cast features James Melhuish, Charlie Doutch, Felipe Felitti-Duter, Ollie Trollip, Michael Rankin, Basil Clarkson, Edward Elworthy, Hugo Miller, Justin Wang, Oliver Sloan, Ben Hoskins, and Ayrton Ferguson.
Seven other College groups have also been recognised at the regional competition for a wide variety of skills in direction and performance:
- King Lear (dir. Alex Johnston) – Best World-Building
- Julius Caesar (dir. Angus Vincent) – Most Natural Delivery
- The Taming of the Shrew (dir. Nikki Bleyendaal) – Best Audience Engagement
- Hamlet (dir. Alex Johnstone) – Best Theatrical Image
- The Merchant of Venice (dir. Ollie Trollip and Harry MacKenzie-Rickards) – Best Use of Drama Technologies
- Richard III (dir. Conor Ruane and Ryan Tian) – Tightest Pacing of a Scene
- Macbeth (dir. Nikki Bleyendaal) – Most Supportive Ensemble
