The two Oamaru school’s English departments teamed up to bring the Ugly Shakespeare Company, which is on tour, to town.
Three actors — Kelly Hocking, Nick Dunbar and Greg Cooper — performed for both senior and junior students and followed that up with a workshop for year 12 and 13 students.
The workshop was a great opportunity to ‘‘pick the brains’’ of the actors, Waitaki Boys’ head of English Richard Browne said.
‘‘My intention was — and the way it played out that way — was to give our senior boys a chance ask about the actors’ craft, to ask about what experience does acting take you down and how does that link to what I’m doing in the classroom?’’
The visit also tied in well to the curriculum, he said.
‘‘Anytime you get close analysis of poetry it’s gold for English students.
‘‘They need that sort of help and encouragement to think about what words mean and then what themes and so forth are brought forward by someone like Shakespeare.
‘‘We’re growing our scholarship programme, we’re growing our academic courses and Shakespeare is a part of that so [it was] a wonderful opportunity to dovetail enjoyment with academics.’’
