NEWS FROM THE DRAMA DEPARTMENT
2016 John Paul College celebrates the 400
th
Anniversary of William
Shakespeare
2016 commemorates 400 years since the death of William
Shakespeare and the world will be celebrating.
The Drama Department at John Paul College has already planned its
year of commemoration for this very special anniversary. Shakespeare
has given us so much with language, phrases and jokes that we use on
a daily basis. His images and references make up our literary history.
Shakespeare’s themes and issues continue to be universal and
timeless. You never tire of his works as something new is discovered
each time you dip into his text.
Over the years, nine John Paul College drama students have been selected to be part of the New Zealand
team that travels annually to London and Cambridge. 2015 Year 13 Drama Captain Zoe Spence has been
selected to join the national team this year. John Paul College has a very proud record of drama students
selected for this prestigious national team. We wish Zoe well at The Globe Theatre in London.
Our drama students this year will have the opportunity to see and experience live theatre at the Pop-Up
Globe which is being constructed in central Auckland to coincide with the celebrations of the anniversary. It
is a full-scale, temporary, working replica of the second Globe Theatre in London. It will ‘pop up’ and then
literally disappear! This will give our students an exciting intimate experience and a real feeling for the space
for which his plays were written.
Live theatre is a unique experience which cannot be obtained by television or movies, it is important to give
students these opportunities where an audience is in real time and no two performances are exactly the
same.
2016 John Paul College Drama Department Shakespeare commemorative events
12/13 February. Production of Bare the New Zealand award winning play by Toa Fraser at Casa
Blanca theatre. Fundraiser for former John Paul College student Zoe Spence (Year 13 2015) to raise
funds to enable Zoe to travel to The Globe with the New Zealand Shakespeare Team.
John Paul College Drama Department years 12 and 13 will be studying the Elizabethan Theatre form
in class for NCEA Achievement Standards.
John Paul College students attend the Pop Up Globe performance of Romeo and Juliet in Auckland
9 April John Paul College enters both teacher and student directed entries in the regional
Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand - University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival.
5/6 August Year 12 and 13 Drama students’ production A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Casa Blanca
theatre.
As Shakespeare said in As You Like it, "Can one desire too much of a good thing?"
Gabrielle Thurston
HoD Drama