Wauchope High School and St Paul’s College students learnt about Shakespeare’s Othello during interactive workshops on Friday.

Bell Shakespeare actor and arts educator Matilda Ridgway took students through a series of exercises as well as plot synopsis, character journeys and design images from Othello.

“Shakespeare can sometimes seem overwhelming or terrifying to students and can sometimes feel like it is something for the intellectually elite,” Ms Ridgway said.

“It’s just reminding them it is a play, it’s a theatre production, and seeing it performed is how it was meant to be.”

The regional access workshops examined Othello through the prism of the Bell Shakespeare production which is coming to the Glasshouse in September.

Bell Shakespeare is Australia's national theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Ms Ridgway said the workshops prepared students to look at the play in a critical sense and expand on questions, and provide an inside look at how the director and designer approached the play, and from her experience, how an actor approached the play.

Wauchope High School drama teacher Fiona Jensen said the Glasshouse education program put us on a level playing field with city schools.

She said for students to be able to experience theatre and access experts in theatre was amazing.

Wauchope High School student Zeeanna Malofie looked forward to having an insight into Shakespeare’s language.

The Glasshouse education program is designed to provide enriched learning experiences in and through the arts.

Students from across the local government area and from as far afield as Macksville, Kempsey and Coffs Harbour took part in the education program at the Glasshouse last year.

Meanwhile, Nathan Douglas from St Paul’s College auditioned on Friday for the John Bell Scholarship.

The scholarship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students from regional or remote areas with an interest in a career as a performer.

Three students are selected each year for a week-long experience with Bell Shakespeare.

Meanwhile, one student from Hastings Secondary College Westport Campus and two students from MacKillop College recently auditioned for Opera Australia’s Regional Student Scholarship. 

That scholarship prize includes vocal coaching, music, acting and movement workshops and the chance to perform an aria for Opera Australia’s artistic director Lyndon Terracini.