Making this web series was a dream for the cast and crew.
When most people think of a Shakespeare play coming to life in video, they don’t necessarily imagine the backdrop to be an alcohol-fuelled teenage house party in Wellington.
But with the catchphrase "staying up all night, wasting them candles,” it’s hardly surprising that’s exactly where the small scale production group The Candle Wasters decided to set their latest web series.
The Candle Wasters are a team of four young women from New Zealand who, with their power combined, brought to life the web series Nothing Much To Do and Lovely Little Losers.
Their latest creation, Bright Summer Night is brand new series inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream set over one night at a teenage house party in Wellington.
Those who have previewed the series are calling it a Shakespearean twist on Skins - the UK hit TV series which can adequately be summed up as the messy lives, loves, delirious highs and inevitable lows of a group of raucous teenagers.
Poppy and Thea, two of the characters from Bright Summer Night. Photo: Supplied
All three web series have drawn on the work of Shakespeare, but this time the group is stepping away from the vlog format that fans are used to, in an effort to better explore their characters.
And with a core cast of 13, there’s a lot of story to get excited about.
Jack Buchanan who plays Bryn, based on Oberon (see what they did there), says he loves how they adapted the script.
“I think it opens up the stories and characters in a whole new way.”
The 24-year-old says he’d seen the groups work before, but it was his first time being a part of a project.
“It was awesome, I love Shakespeare,” he says.
Jack was one of the oldest people on set, but he says the fresh-faced cast had been very professional.
A more seasoned member in the group, Kalisha Wasasala, played Lena - one of the lovers in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
She worked with The Candle Wasters before in Lovely Little Losers, but says it was a different experience this time around because her character, Lena was a lot more introverted.
But she says she had a great time making the series.
“It was wonderful because I got to work with all my friends.”
A member of the creative team, Victoria University film graduate Claris Jacobs, worked on the script, set and costumes for the series.
She says while it was hard work, all the effort that went into crafting the contemporary script and pulling together costumes paid off.
“It was a real whirlwind, there was a lot of sleep deprivation and a lot of silly things came out of my mouth.”
The story has been broken down into 10 episodes, which will come out weekly from tomorrow on The Candle Waters YouTube channel and The Wireless Facebook page.