Memorable trip to Wellington for students
Performing an excerpt of William Shakespeare’s play, Henry V, was an unforgettable experience for two James Hargest College students.
Kate Loan and Amy Lee competed successfully in a recent secondary schools Shakespeare competition – National Sheilah Winn Awards. They entered the five-minute excerpt section with Henry V and won the regional final in Invercargill before heading to Wellington for the grand final.
They played the characters Princess Catherine (Kate) and her maid Alice (Amy). The pair spoke in French and Kate did the directing.
Amy reckoned their performance at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington was the best she and Kate had ever done.
They handled the occasion with aplomb performing on a large stage with 500 in the audience.
‘‘The stage was massive . . . It was such an amazing feeling performing up there,’’ Kate said.
She won the Outstanding Student Director Award and, along with Amy, took out Outstanding Presentation of a History Play.
The pair also won best costume.
Amy was selected to attend workshops in Dunedin in September-October, with the possibility to travel to the Globe Theatre in London next year.
They used a Google translate programme and French videos to learn the language before the regional final. After clinching a place in the grand final, a visiting French student helped the pair polish up their pronunciation of the language.
Kate was in the grand final for the second time after being in a team of five James Hargest students last year.
‘‘We went overtime and got disqualified [in 2017], so we were very careful this year that we didn’t do that again,’’ Kate said.
‘‘It was definitely challenging but we practised heaps and heaps.’’