INAUGURAL BILL GUEST AWARD goes to……View Gallery Hide Gallery

Toi Whakaari is delighted to announce the inaugural recipient of a brand new award, named after past Associate Director of the School, Bill Guest.

Worth $6,000, the Bill Guest Award goes towards the fees of a student entering their final year of study, and recognises excellence in the following areas:

Excellence – consistent application of skills and investment in the process of learning

Presence – shown through continued contribution and engagement in koiwi and across the School

Leadership – demonstrated across the School beyond productions

Funded by a small group of donors including Simon Cunliffe and Richard Moss, former Chair of the Board , it is only the second significant award gifted to the School after the Museum Hotel Scholarship Award for actors, which was instituted in 2002 and is presented in association with Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ. It is also the first to be open to every department in the School, and was awarded in koiwi on Monday 26 March to third-year management student Nicola Smith.

Originally from Leicester, England, Nicky moved here with her family in 2005 and quickly discovered her love for the backstage, enrolling in Toi Whakaari’s Bachelor of Performing Arts (Management) in 2010. She lost no time in making a name for herself, as Lighting Designer for The Roaring Girl in 2011 and Stage Manager for the devised site-specific production Taku Rua, as well as working in between times for Wellington Musical Theatre. She also production managed the 2011 Toi Whakaari Graduation week – an enormous job that involved more than 300 people.

So far this year she has worked as Assistant Stage Manager on NBR New Zealand Opera’s Hohepa for the NZ International Arts Festival, as well as an intern at the Wellington Town Hall and Opera House. She has a busy time ahead as well as Production Manager for two Toi Whakaari productions: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, which is a cross-collaboration with the second-year actors across all departments of the school, and Skellig, one of the graduating actors’ productions featuring a production team from Toi and a final-year Directing student.

It was also Nicky who was behind the idea to open up awards across the School.

She says:

“This scholarship means so much to me. I remember dreaming a little about scholarships and how great it would be to have something that any student could receive, something that would match the generosity of the Museum Hotel Award but wasn’t solely for the acting department. The Bill Guest Award is perfect, and to see this dream realised within my time at Toi Whakaari gives me a great sense of pride. I am very honoured to be the first recipient of this award and I hope it inspires a new generation of students to continue to aim high and shape the school into something that continues to fulfil not only themselves, but all the rest of the students here.”

Bill Guest also expressed his delight that it was a fellow manager and technician to receive the award, since as well as Associate Director he was also the first Head of Performing Arts Management and Entertainment Technology, and initiated the Diploma in Entertainment Technology back in 1994. His leadership was focussed on building a collaborative model across all departments, and his fifteen-year tenure at the School was characterised by the expansion of the school community to include courses in technology, management, design, costume construction and directing.