The bewildered bard to take centre stage

A local youth theatre troop has just two weeks from flipping over the scripts to stepping into the spotlight for their three performances.  Not only that, the 21-member crew has more than 90 different characters to learn between them.

Tasman’s Homespun Theatre is once again taking on the intensive two-week challenge, learning their lines, leaning into their characters and figuring out their stage positioning, ready to be pretty much word-perfect by their first performance on Friday evening.

As well as the cast, the group is made up of an understudy and two technicians, all aged nine to 17, and all hailing from the local homeschooling community.

The script, “Shakespeare’s Library,” is the creation of Auckland-based educational drama consultant Douglas Roberts, who has created a conundrum for the Bard.  It transpires that Shakespeare has crafted two unforgettable characters, but he cannot decide which of his plays to put them in. They are dropped into the drama of Julius Caesar, dip their toes in the heartbreak of Romeo and Juliet, and add a little extra mayhem to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Douglas says that in each one the story doesn’t quite go as planned, with the two extra characters either dying or being rendered irrelevant.

Not to fear though – despite the drama, this is first and foremost a comedy.  The cast do have some quick changes to make, regarding both costumes and temperament.  Oberon, King of the Faeries, has slightly different requirements to a shipwrecked butler, after all.

Douglas, who wrote and directed the group’s performance of Joe of Arabia last year, is known for his collaborative approach to theatre. He encourages young performers to take responsibility for various aspects of the production, including stage design, backstage logistics, lighting, sound, scene blocking, costuming, and audience management.  This year, as with last, Douglas preceded the production fortnight with some acting workshops to help the students shake off their self-consciousness and slip into different genres and characters.

About two thirds of the cast have returned from last year, and they asked to be pushed even harder this year, so Douglas presented them with a more complex script.

He says that he loves watching the children bring his vision into focus and “making it bigger”.

“I really enjoy that, because it’s not ours anymore.  It’s theirs.  It’s quite a privilege to watch,” he says.

Santi Ward, 16, says that the performance is on a different level to last year.
“I’m super pumped for opening night.”

It is the highlight of the year for 13-year-old Tahlia Burton. “I like it because it sort of feels like it hasn’t already been done for us,” she explains. “It feels like we’re putting our own essence into it.”

Shakespeare’s Library is being run on Friday, May 16, 2025, at 7:30pm, and Saturday, 17 May, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, at Tasman Church. Tickets are available at homespun.7am.events.