Junior wins 2022 Shakespeare Competition
January 10th, 2022
Junior Sabrina C. wins La Pietra's 2022 Shakespeare Competition with a monologue from Macbeth
This year, the La Pietra Shakespeare Competition took place virtually in the Student Learning Center. Freshman Olivia R., sophomore Melody H., and junior Sabrina C. anxiously awaited their turn at the mic to recite their carefully memorized Shakespearean monologue. The performance would be an intimidating one -- even without an in-person audience! Their peers were watching (and cheering them on) from their own classrooms over Zoom.
As the panel of judges appeared, the participants were reminded that they would be evaluated on the basis of preparation, effective character creation, and level of performance.
Watch Sabrina's winning monologue from Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1
First up was Sabrina, performing Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking monologue from Macbeth. Next up was Olivia with a monologue by Helena from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and finally, from the same play, Melody recited a monologue by Theseus from Act V.
After some deliberation by the judges, Sabrina was named the winner of the 2022 La Pietra Shakespeare Competition! Congratulations to our winner and all of the participants, as it takes a lot of courage, skill, and hard work to perform a Shakespearean monologue in front of the entire student body.
Olivia R., Sabrina C., and Melody H. celebrate after the competition
For the three participants, understanding what their characters were saying was key in preparing for the competition. They quickly learned that Shakespearean English was far from their modern day vocabulary, and Ms. Eden Lee Murray was invaluable in guiding them.
When asked about her experience, Sabrina said she missed performing in front of a live audience, saying she likes to draw from their energy. Despite the lack of in-person audience, she sure managed to give an engaging performance!
Sabrina will go on to represent La Pietra in the Hawaii State Level English Speaking Union’s Shakespeare Competition later in March. For that competition, she will need to present not only a monologue from Shakespeare, but also one of the Sonnets. The winner of that state level competition will move on to represent Hawaii at the national level competition in the Spring. Good luck, Sabrina!
