STEPHANIE FAWCETT

 

Stephanie Fawcett

ACTING OUT: From left: Irene Corbett, 15, Regan Crummer, 15, both of Papatoetoe, Daniel Tizzard, 16, of Pakuranga and Tai Nimo, 12, of Mangere. The four are part of a home school theatre group putting on a production of William Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale.

A group of dedicated thespians has been working hard on a tale of jealousy, anger, forgiveness and redemption.

The Shakespeare Group has been studying William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale for six months and now members are ready to bring the bard to Papatoetoe and the masses.

The home-schooled cast is aged between 6 and 18 and has been rehearsing an abridged version of the famous play.

“We’ve been studying it for about six months now and we’ve been breaking down the characters, analysing them and learning the language of Shakespeare,” home school educator Wendy Crummer says.

“The reason we abridged it is that we’ve found a lot of audiences can’t sit through three hours of Shakespeare but there’s no need to worry, it’s all true Shakespearean language and we’ve kept the integrity of the play,” she says.

The Shakespeare Group has been performing together for about four years and has also staged Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Winter’s Tale tells the story of a kingdom plunged into chaos by the jealous and deluded King Leontes and is a tale of deception and suspicion, hatred, broken friendships, love, laughter and reconciliation.

Regan Crummer, 15, who plays the suspicious king, says his character is driven mad by jealousy and accuses his pregnant wife of having an affair with his best friend.

“He suffers from morbid jealousy. His friend has been staying at the palace with them for months and he starts getting ideas,” he says.

Daniel Tizzard, 16, who plays Leontes’ best friend and fellow king Polixenes, says he loves getting into rehearsals with the group after studying the play for so long.

“It’s really great to get on stage and start developing the characters and seeing their little quirks and how they react to others.”

The costumes have all been made specifically for them and Mrs Crummer says they have been working with a theatrical director.

“We’ve been working with a man named Douglas Roberts. We stumbled across him when we were doing Julius Caesar and it’s just grown from there really. He loves Shakespeare,” she says.

“The parents have been hard at work making costumes and props. There are probably two or three costumes for each cast member and we prefer to make our own rather than hire them.

“We don’t want people to go away and think `that was pretty good for a kids’ production’,” Regan says.

“We really aim for quality and we want to make Shakespeare more accessible to various audiences including schools.”

The Shakespeare Group’s production of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale will be performed at the Spotlight Theatre, Tavern Lane, Papatoetoe, on March 30 at 2pm and 7.30pm and March 31 at 7.30pm.

Tickets are $20 for adults or $15 for students.

Email tickets@shakespearegroup.co.nz or call 5765794 for more information or to book.

Rad about this here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/6638318/Home-schooled-actors-tell-a-tale