Theatre troupe brings original practice Shakespeare to town

A new theatre troupe brings original practice Shakespearean performances to the Wellington region.

The first Lord Lackbeards production of Much Ado About Nothing will be performed at schools from Monday July the 8th through Friday the 12th. This will be followed by public performances at The Moorings on July 11, 12 and 13th at 7:30pm and July 14th at 2:00pm.

The Lord Lackbeards are a group of Victoria University of Wellington students and people in the workforce who enjoy playing with Shakespeare. The group uses staging conventions from Shakespeare’s time – leaving the lights on, performing on a Thrust stage, speaking at pace and interacting with audience members – to produce a dynamic and highly engaging rendition of a classic play. Says Director Ania Upstill, “We want to give more students the experience of seeing Shakespeare performed live.”

The Wellington performances will take place at The Moorings, an historic house in Thorndon. Says Upstill, “The billiard room in which the show will be performed is similar to the Blackfriars Playhouse where Shakespeare performed in London and offers intimacy with the audience,” whose numbers will be limited to fewer than 50 per night. Says Upstill, “Since this is primarily a touring production, we’re not focused on costumes or set. Instead, we’re spending time on what we have: allowing the words to take on their full power and keeping the audience in the room. Also, like in Shakespeare’s time, we’re doubling up on the roles. All but one of the ten actors involved have multiple roles, so costume changes are fast and fun.”

The primary focus of The Lord Lackbeard's tour to secondary schools is to inspire a greater understanding of Shakespeare among the students by bringing an original rendition of the well known play.

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