Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at BATS Theatre

Twelve Twelve to Seventeen Year Olds to Perform Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at BATS Theatre

“For youth’s a thing will not endure.”
Wellington Young Actors, the capital’s youngest theatre company, is to perform William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at BATS Theatre November 24-28.

Wellington Young Actors are a company of 12-17 year olds from across Wellington who come together to train in theatre in Island Bay.

Their current project is Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Twelfth Night tells the story of twins Viola and Sebastian who are separated in a shipwreck, each presuming the other has drowned. In order to protect and support herself, Viola dresses as a boy and takes up the employment of Duke Orsino; whom she falls in love with while unable to give up her disguise.

The students are already an award-winning theatre company. They performed an original play, To Sunder, in the 2015 Fringe Festival where they won Best Newcomer and were nominated for Outstanding Ensemble. They have also taken part in the Shoestring Theatre Festival, where they created and performed, Passage, within a budget of $20.

As well as acting, the young company takes on all production roles such as costume design, publicity and management. The group has received positive feedback and reviews from audiences, and, of course, they have made their families very proud!

Their love for Shakespeare arose when they performed a selection of the Bard’s most famous monologues late last year. The experience led them to request to perform one Shakespeare’s plays as their major project.

Local actor and director, Deborah Eve Rea, was more than happy to bring their dream to reality. Rea recently accepted an invitation to spend a month at The Globe in London to study Shakespeare and is eager to use Twelfth Night as an opportunity to pass on her training to the students.

Hoping to perform Twelfth Night in traditional Elizabethan thrust staging, Wellington Young Actors have encountered a slight challenge in the process. They are in school during the usual time the theatre is available for companies to pack-in and rehearse.

They are currently fundraising for after-hours rehearsal and associated labour costs in order to balance both the Bard and NCEA. Currently Wellington Young Actors have two weeks to raise $825.00. You can support Wellington Young Actors through their Boosted page here:www.boosted.org.nz/projects/wellington-young-actors-present-twelfth-night

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Presented by Wellington Young Actors
Directed by Deborah Eve Rea

6.30pm, 24 - 28 November

BATS Theatre

Tickets: $18/$14/$13
Book: www.bats.co.nz

Twitter/Facebook @wgtnyoungactors

ENDS

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