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Wellington Shakepeare Festival

In 1574 the Common Council of London noted that "sundry great disorders and inconveniences have been found to ensue to this City by the inordinate haunting of great multitudes of people, especially youth, to plays, interludes, and shows, namely occasion of frays and quarrels, evil practices of incontinency in great inns having chambers and secret places adjoining to their open stages and galleries."

Whether the Wellington public will make a similar response to the Shakespeare Festival next month is not clear. What is clear is that the Festival-aimed to present a wide range of approaches to the work of William Shakespeare-will provide Wellington audiences with a unique opportunity to see an amazing number of productions, and perhaps for the first time be able to compare plays and productions first hand.

The offerings in the month-long Festival include Macbeth (VUW Drama Society, directed by Phillip Mann), Anthony and Cleopatra (Karori Dramatic Society, directed by Pat Craddock) and Richard III (Unity Theatre, directed by Matthew O'Sullivan). Nola Millar examines the character of Falstaff in her production of So Stout A Gentleman, whilst George Webby and Ralph McAllister will open a box of surprises in a Sunday night panel/discussion/demonstration on Staging Shakespeare. Raymond Boyce's lecture on Designing for Shakespeare and Professor Don McKenzie's Bard and Bawd, Or Let's Ban Shakespeare will further enlarge the scope of the Festival. Concerts featuring Elizabethan music and songs from the plays, as well as a performance by the Schola Polyphonica of Wellington in the Law Library, will provide the atmosphere of the Age of Shakespeare, while a late night folk concert will feature contemporary music and dance inspired by the bard. Films including Romeo & Juliet, A Winter's Tale and Henry V will add a further dimension to the entertainment already offered. In addition, Ray Henwood and Matthew O'Sullivan will present excerpts from their one-man shows. Ray Henwood takes as his theme War and Matt O'Sullivan tastes the Food of Love. Lest Bardolatory rear its ugly head, Drama II students will present George Bernard Shaw's play The Dark Lady of the Sonnets which gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how Shakespeare discovered some of his immortal lines.

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here
Blessed be the man that spares these stones
and cursed be he that moves my bones.

The Shakespeare Festival will rattle his old bones and blow away some of the dust that enshrouds the late but great William Shakespeare.