This weekend Sept. 27-29, SUU is playing host to the annual Utah High School Shakespeare Competition. For those who don’t know what this means, the reality of it is that at this time every year campus gets invaded by theatre troupes from all across Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, as well as a school from Wisconsin!
High School Shakespeare Competition is a unique program where high schools across the six states come together and compete against one another to find out who has the most Shakespirit.
SUU faculty and staff from the College of Performing Arts, along with distinguished guest artists from dance and theater act as specialized judges for Ensemble, Duos/Trios, and Monologue categories.
“High School Shakes is such a wonderful opportunity for students who are interested in the works of Shakespeare to come and see them as live shows and to meet others who share their interests in theatre,” said Carlee Jo Blumenthal, Social Media Manager for the University Journal.
High school students spend weeks and even months picking the perfect scene, choreographing, and then practicing until they could perform in their sleep. Then they travel for hours with nerves building until they are ready to throw up when they finally get here.
For these students this competition is a chance to perform on a real stage and get feedback from professionals in the theatre and dance world.
“I came to High School Shakes for three years and it was one of the main reasons why I chose to come to SUU. I just fell in love with the campus and with Cedar City, and when it came time to start picking schools to apply to, there really wasn’t anywhere else that I wanted to go,” said sophomore Marketing student Emilee Jones.
If you would like to support your high school and or just enjoy any opportunity to appreciate Shakespeare’s work, all performances are open to the public or if you are interested in volunteering your time, drop by South Hall and visit Jacque Marchant.
To view a full schedule of events visit https://www.bard.org/competition/.
Story by: Alexis J. Taylor
accent@suunews.net
Photo by: Alexis J. Taylor
