A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, three Sith lords descend on Macbeth on a Dunedin Shakespeare festival’s main stage.
Yesterday, young thespians from across Otago met at the King’s and Queen’s Performing Arts Centre in Bay View Rd, South Dunedin, to showcase their various retellings of many of Shakespeare’s plays for the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand (SGCNZ) Victoria University of Wellington Otago Regional Shakespeare Festival.
Among them was a dramatic performance of Romeo and Juliet, where Mercutio receives a fatal wound while partying at a 2000s pool party, by Taieri College students.
A group of Kaikorai Valley College students performed a student-directed Star Wars/Macbeth crossover wherein a battle-hardened Macbeth and Banquo draw their lightsabers just as three Sith lords appear from hyperspace and begin casting spells and dishing out prophecies.
SGCNZ Otago representative and Trinity Catholic College head of drama and dance Erica Ward said many of the students used various methods to make their scenes stand out.
‘‘Many have taken lots of modern, unique takes on scenes, which is really cool to see.
‘‘You can tell there has been a lot of thought put into their performances.’’
While technically a festival, there was some ‘‘healthy competition’’ as students were all vying for their performance to be selected to go to the national competition over King’s Birthday weekend in Wellington.
Two groups, one who performed a five-minute scene, and the other who performed a 15-minute scene, would be selected.
They would compete to be selected as part of a smaller group who will travel to England next year to perform at the Globe Theatre, the home of Shakespeare.
