250 school children gifted Shakespeare tickets

PRESS RELEASE
Issued on behalf of Pop-up Globe foundation sponsor, Anthony Harper

250 school children gifted Shakespeare tickets

Children from throughout New Zealand have been given the opportunity to see Shakespeare’s masterpieces performed live in the space for which they were created, thanks to the generosity of a Kiwi firm.

Some 250 children from nine schools from Canterbury, Wellington, Auckland, the Far North and Hamilton – many of them decile 1 schools -- have been provided tickets to attend a performance at Pop-up Globe over the 12-week season by law firm, Anthony Harper, the foundation sponsor of Pop-up Globe.

“We’re honoured to welcome these students to Pop-up Globe,” says Pop-up Globe artistic director and founder, Dr Miles Gregory. “Shakespeare wrote his plays for ordinary people, not an elite – and we want to share the Pop-up Globe experience with as many people as we can. We hope it’s a life-changing experience.

“I am very proud that so many young people are having their first experience of Shakespeare in performance with us at Pop-up Globe. The truth is that reading Shakespeare or teaching Shakespeare by asking students to read it is like asking students to appreciate Mozart by looking at one of his scores, not by hearing the music.

“Anyone who has worked on this project or attended one of the schools matinees, knows the level of sheer joy that those audiences experience. You can hear it from 50 yards away. The walls of the theatre vibrate with the noise. It is like a football stadium, not a theatre. That's a wonderful thing.

“Shakespeare creates community cohesion when a whole generation has the same experience. Shakespeare is a unifying force for good in the world, and I believe that exposure to Shakespeare's plays helps us as people make better decisions about our own lives because in Shakespeare's work, the full spectrum of humanity is explored. Watching his plays and understanding them allows us to realise and accept that human nature doesn't change and that there is a great thread of shared humanity that is common to us all regardless of our background or origin.”

Pop-up Globe is dedicated to ensuring as many children as possible can experience the magic of Shakespeare, says Dr Gregory. This vision is shared by Anthony Harper – a firm that has been supporting arts initiatives in New Zealand for many years.

"Last year, over 100,000 people had the opportunity to attend a performance of a show that Anthony Harper sponsored, both in Auckland and Christchurch," said Managing Partner of the Year, Malcolm Hurley. "We were thrilled that over 20,000 school children attended Pop-up Globe during the 2016 season."

About Anthony Harper

Anthony Harper is an award-winning national law firm.

For more than 150 years we have advised New Zealand and international clientsand helped them to achieve their goals. Our high performing, internationally ranked solicitors are deeply immersed in our 20
specialist areas.

www.anthonyharper.co.nz

© Scoop Media