It might be Shakespeare for a cause but the young actors involved are also promising it'll be a great night's entertainment.

Billed as "an evening of merriment and joy", Shakespeare on the Domain, running at the Malcolm Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival this Saturday and Sunday evenings at 5.30pm, is promising the best of Shakespeare's plays and funniest moments interpreted in new and exciting ways.

Taupō-nui-a-Tia College Year 13 students Joseph Sutherland and Boaz Mellor, both 17, hope to head to London next year to perform on stage at the renowned Globe Theatre.

The pair are talented actors and last year both won places in the Young Shakespeare Company, a group of 24 promising young actors selected to travel to the Shakespeare Globe Centre to study, learn and act.

Originally the company was supposed to go this month but the trip has been delayed a year due to Covid-19. All going well, Joseph and Boaz and fellow Young Shakespeare Company member Auckland-based Michaela Bremner, known as Rigby, will be winging their way there this time next year.

But each of the young actors must raise $10,000 and as part of their fundraising they are putting on a special Shakespeare performance at this year's Taupō Winter Festival, two nights of quick-fire performances from four Shakespeare plays.

They're promising you don't have to be a Shakespeare scholar or know the plays to enjoy the performances which are easy to follow selected scenes from The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice and Romeo & Juliet. All together, the show runs for about an hour.

All the scenes conveniently have three characters in them and the actors say people can expect a bit of physical comedy, nothing too formal or serious and a good night's entertainment.

"They're comedic scenes, we're not going to do anything too tragic … it's all meant to be a good time."

Joseph says people don't have to be familiar with the plays to enjoy the performances and because Shakespeare is so versatile, the actors can adapt it as they go and bring in different contexts to make it fun.

"You generally pick up a lot of context within the scene," Joseph says. "People will absolutely have a good time. There will be good audience interaction and stuff and mingling with the audience."

Boaz is even more confident.

"People will absolutely love it. We have a few things we're going to try out with the audience.

"There will be a few cheeky scenes here and there but nothing too bad, some cheeky little slapstick lines. The more you read Shakespeare, the more you find them."

Preparing the scenes, rehearsing and organising the performances is a lot of work but the actors hope it will be worth it in helping move them closer to their fundraising goals and getting them to London next year.

"The Taupō Winter Festival are being very, very generous and letting us take 100 per cent of the cut and donating all the staging and tent and the lighting for free," Joseph says.

They're also well used to learning and rehearsing under pressure, including rehearsing over Zoom with Rigby.

"For the National Schools Shakespeare Production we learned the whole play in two days and performed it on the second," says Boaz.

"It helps now that we've had this much experience with Shakespeare that we're able to pick it up."

The Details
What: Shakespeare on the Domain
Where: Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11 at 5.30pm.
Where: The Mercury tent on the Tongariro North Domain.
Tickets: Adults $20, students (13-18 years) $15, children 12 and under free. Book at taupowinterfestival.co.nz or cash at the door on the night.

Credit:Nzherald.co.nz