On Jan. 13, the school hosted the Shakespeare Gala that allowed students to compete with others by reading monologues from Shakespeare’s writing and sharing their own interpretation. The winners of this competition were given a chance to further their theater careers, causing many students to take this event very seriously, as this opportunity provided great experience in the performing arts, and will help to prepare them for a possible career in the industry.

“Walking through the movements and going through lines at the same time helped with memorization,” sophomore Maggie Connor said. “I’ve never really done a lot of Shakespeare and I wanted to expand my horizons.”

This gala let students express their love for theater and Shakespeare while also discovering new habits. Additionally, the nature of the event created a fun and competitive environment. Many students had different ways of preparing for this event so that they could do their best to impress the judges.

“I watched the play and I annotated the monologue with beats,” senior Nolan Phillips said. “I was given my monologue because Rinaldi wanted me to do a monologue that was pure villain which I haven’t done.”

Overall, the Shakespeare gala was a productive night that let students convey their passion for theater, which helped to benefit their future career. The feedback provided by judges allowed students to grow in their artistic abilities.

“We will have to learn and perform things on our own, so this helped us prepare for that and learn how we can improve for next time,” senior Abigail Bicker said.

After performing, the participants were asked questions about their monologue, tasked with defending their creative choices as well as unique interpretations of Shakespearian texts. Most students were asked questions about how they related to the monologue they chose.

“I chose this monologue because ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is one of my favorite Shakespearian plays ever written,” sophomore Mia Ramirez said.

Having the assistance of theater teacher Katherine Rinaldi to help guide the actors played an important role in preparation for the monologues that each student had to perform. This unique event had students going out of their comfort zone to show development of their range as a performer.

“I’ve already seen some of those who competed perform recently, and I’ve seen them feel much greater confidence,” assistant principal of the arts Donald Fields said. “Shakespeare is one of those ‘if you can do this you can do anything’ challenges within theater.”