Money’s true power

It is with sadness and disappointment that I write to respond to the recent decision from Creative NZ to reject the Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ’s application for funding.

I am a high school drama teacher who has personally benefited from the programmes and seen the incredible rewards it has given my students over the years.

Beyond the benefits of studying the classical work of Shakespeare, the hundreds and thousands of students who go through the SGCNZ have formed life-long friendships, resulting in collaborations that give back to NZ and create new, original and exciting work.

On the Globe stage in London, our rangatahi performed kapa haka and waiata as part of their gift to the sacred space. I have never been so proud to call myself a New Zealander.

Cutting funding to this programme denies the opportunity for all New Zealanders to access Shakespeare in practical, meaningful ways. Doing so presses the study of Shakespeare even further into private schools, thus pushing the class divide in Aotearoa beyond what it already is.

Rita Stone, Blockhouse Bay.