TheatreFest National President Bryan Aitken said that:

TheatreFest is an important theatrical event on the Theatre New Zealand calendar.  For some 80 years, it has created a forum for new actors, directors, playwrights to apply their skills alongside more established practitioners, enjoying professional feedback and upskilling in a supportive and dynamic atmosphere. 

TheatreFest is a celebration of all things theatre! Designed to accomodate the breadth of creative possibilities, there are no limits on who and what can be entered.

There were four technical rehearsal and performance sessions across Saturday and Sunday, with an awards ceremony late on Sunday afternoon. 

We came away with two awards ("Magic Moment" and "Excellence in Design") and were selected to perform in the next round of TheatreFest in Arrowtown for the Lower South Island Regional Competition.

Supporting the actors Finlay and Mitchell behind the scenes were Dana Wister (Yr13 Columba College), Brie Monk (Yr12 Columba College), Reva Grills (Arts Coordinator) and Kimberley Fridd (HoD Drama), providing crew support for makeup, costume, sound, lighting, & staging. It took Dana around two hours to do Finlay's macabre makeup effects, which is no small feat!

Lower South Island Regionals

Over the weekend of the 20/21st of August, our crew headed to Arrowtown for the Lower South Island Regionals. Adult, University of Otago and secondary school theatre pieces featured across the two performance days from groups from as far as Christchurch, Dunedin, and Queenstown. 

For our Lower South Island Regionals performance,  adjudicator Hilary Norris commented in her adjudicator's report that:

• The scene requires a huge physical and vocal performance from the Creature and a feeling of duality as Frankenstein truly confronts what he has created.

• Finlay and Mitchell's scene had superior depth of characterisation and understanding of the internal lives of the characters.

• The makeup artistry on display for the Creature was outstanding.

• The costuming was also thoroughly thought through and showed in a really nuanced way the vast differences in the characters.

• This play had a great sense of theatre and was a brave choice.

Dunedin Local TheatreFest Round 

Finlay Tomkins and Mitchell Lobb (Year 13) entered their 3.1 NCEA Techniques assessment scene from 'Frankenstein' by Nick Dear in this year's TheatreFest. Having done well in their assessment, it was clear this scene had great potential to be developed for a real stage.