Caesar, Celia & Caliban As You’ll Like It

Forty-eight rangatahi from across Aotearoa will converge in Wellington this September for an unforgettable nine-day immersion in Shakespeare, culminating in two public performances that showcase their talent, growth, and creativity. From most arriving nervous, even anxious, they quickly relax into the course, departing shedding copious tears as the ‘bitter-sweet’ farewells are enriched with new life-long whānau and a wealth of newfound knowledge and experiences. 

Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand National Shakespeare Schools Production (SGCNZ NSSP) is a highly sought after golden opportunity, for forty-six young actors and student-directors chosen from the twenty-four Regional and National SGCNZ Victoria University of Wellington Regional and National Shakespeare Festivals (SGCNZ VUW RNSF). They are joined by a winner of the SGCNZ/Dawn Sanders Shakespeare Costume Design Competition as Student Costumier and SGCNZ/Morrison Music Trust Shakespeare Music Composition Competition as Student Composer. 

This residential intensive week, held at St Patrick’s College, Silverstream from 20-28 September 2025, comprises talks, tours, workshops & rehearsals with culminating public performances at 7.00pm on 26 September at Wellington High School Hall and 7.30pm 27 September in the VUW Memorial Theatre.

The students in three groups, work on forty minutes of scenes from The Tempest, Julius Caesar and As You Like It, directed by Jade Eriksen, Jacqueline Coats and David O’Donnell respectively, and are performed after only five half days of rehearsals.

Jacqueline’s concept for Julius Caesar is modern Rome, but with a heightened dystopian flavour. “Our visual inspiration comes from the clashing colours and urban bedlam of the Verona Beach of Baz Lurhmann’s 1996 classic Romeo + Juliet and the modern Greece of Charlie Cavell’s recent dark mythological comedy, Kaos,” said Jacqueline.

Just as Shakespeare used an historical event to safely comment on the charged political situation in England at his time, so his story of the repercussions of civic violence and the thin line between loyalty and ambition resonates with us today.  

High calibre tutors in Singing, Dance, Stage Combat, Acting Techniques, ‘Body Permissions’ (Intimacy), Shakespeare’s England, and relaxation techniques provide a wealth of knowledge. There are talks about the plays, and a Mystery Tour to give the rangatahi a social half day of other experiences. Several of the Directors and Tutors are from Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington.

“We are extremely grateful to Victoria University for having picked up the significant sponsorship of our SGCNZ Shakespeare Festivals which flow into our sought-after selection for our annual SGCNZ NSSP course.  From this, 24 are chosen to form SGCNZ Young Shakespeare Company 2026,” said SGCNZ CEO Dawn Sanders.

Whilst not actually funding NSSP, the University provides a considerable amount of ‘in-kind’ assistance throughout this event, including a lunch at the University, attending a lunchtime performance in Studio 77, an introduction to what is on offer at THW-VUW with a tour and interaction with SGCNZ alumni acting as volunteers throughout the week.

With the University brimming with alumni of SGCNZ’s Festivals, the partnership is a natural fit. So too are the objectives of both organisations. The young people engage with Shakespeare with curiosity, enquiring minds, a love of literature, close reading, self-expression, innovation, creativity, collaboration and much more.

Professor Sarah Ross, Head of School, English, Film, Theatre, Media and Communication, and Art History, remarked, “SGCNZ alumni find their way into our arts degrees and indeed into our university as a whole. From the direct partnership with SGCNZ ‘s Shakespeare Festivals, we look forward to engaging with rangatahi selected to attend SGCNZ NSSP on our campus so that they can experience exactly what we have to offer.”

The rangatahi attending this course will gain a wide range of skills, transferable into a wide range of occupations and career paths. Through mentoring and achieving challenges set, they will gain deeply personal new appreciation of their own strengths and capabilities.

Performance Bookings: eventfinda.co.nz Tickets: $30 - $10      

Public Performances:

Friday 26 September 7.00pm Wellington High School Hall

Saturday 27 September 7.30pm Victoria University of Wellington Memorial Theatre