Avcol conquers Shakespeare Festival

5 hours ago
2 min read

Eighty‑seven students from Years 9–13 were up before sunrise on Sunday, boarding the bus to Kristin School for a full day at the Auckland Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ Victoria University of Wellington Shakespeare Festival. After a brisk tech rehearsal, the festival opened to a sell‑out audience.

This year’s festival featured back-to-back scenes from Avcol, Kristin, Western Springs, Waitākere, AGC Sunderland, and North West College. Avondale alone contributed 12 scenes, each performed with exceptional skill and energy.

With such a high calibre of work across all schools, judges reported that choosing winners was particularly challenging. Even so, Avondale’s talent shone through, earning recognition across multiple categories and securing a place at Nationals for the fourth consecutive year, for Milo Wilson-Macleod's version of Julius Caesar. This is the first time in several years that Avondale’s qualifying scene has been student‑directed.

"Directing this piece was the most rewarding experience of my life," says Milo. "To be able to work with everyone to really create our scene from the ground up taught me so much. Everyone contributed to our success. We had put everything we had into it and really made it something that we were proud of."

Julius Caesar (directed by Milo Wilson-Macleod)

Top Honour: winner of Best 15-Minute Scene – Heading to Wellington

Directed by Year 11 student Milo Wilson-Macleod, Avondale College’s 15-minute scene from Julius Caesar earned the festival’s top accolade and will now represent the region in Wellington. This achievement reflects the strength and dedication of the entire cast: