Seven students representing North Penn High School Theatre and theatre classes attended the 5^th Annual High School Shakespeare Competition hosted by the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University on March 3, 2012.  “Team Shakespeare” was composed of seniors Jessica Arnold, Gabe Quinodoz, Catherine Quinn, and DianaRose Weiler; junior Pascal Portney; and sophomores Alex Breth and Erica Hutchinson.  The competition is comprised of three rounds with two panels in each round of either monologues or duet/trio scenes and are judged by professional actor/teachers from the Philadelphia area.  Students are assigned to one panel each round competing against 3-5 pieces.  Each student performer is judged on a scale of superior, excellent, good, or fair in categories covering voice/diction; appropriate physical movement; character objectives, emotion, and commitment to the role; and use of Shakespeare’s text in language and understanding; and the degree of difficulty for the selection.  At the end of the competition, scores from each round are tabulated to determine 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place trophies for both monologues and scenes.  Schools sending 2 or more students are also rated by combining the scores of all of their participants for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Team Trophies. This year 21 schools from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware participated in the competition with 16 scenes and 31 monologues.

 NPHS students did extremely well in both categories.  Jessica Arnold and DianaRose Weiler were awarded the 3^rd place trophy for duet/trio scenes with a scene from The Merry Wives of Windsor.  Erica Hutchinson was awarded the 3^rd place trophy for her monologue as Lady Anne from Richard III.  Pascal Portney was awarded the 1^st place trophy for his monologue as Casca from Julius Caesar. 

 The students awarded trophies, plus the other North Penn members of Team Shakespeare, Catherine Quinn and Alex Breth with a scene from The Tempest and Gabe Quinodoz with his monologue as Hotspur from Henry IV, Part 1 were also asked to showcase their work in a special performance at the end of the competition. The showcase presenters are chosen by the judges for exemplary and representative work from all the pieces.  This is the first time all North Penn students participating were asked to showcase.  From the showcases, scholarships to the DeSales University Department of Performing and Fine Arts are awarded.  Pascal Portney was awarded the top scholarship of $4000.00 a year and Erica Hutchinson was awarded a $1000.00 a year scholarship.

 For their combined efforts, NPHS Team Shakespeare was awarded the 1^st place Team Trophy.  The Team Trophy is an outstanding award showing the strength, depth, and ensemble work of a school’s participants. 

 NPHS Theatre has had a solid history with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival competition.  This is the third time in the five years of the competition that NPHS has brought home the Team Trophy, the 1^st prize for monologues, and the highest monetary scholarship to DeSales University.  Over the years other NPHS participants have been awarded the 2^nd and 3^rd place trophies for scenes and monologues, and in the two years when the group was not awarded the 1^st place Team Trophy, they brought home either the 2nd & 3rd place Team Trophies.  Each year NPHS participants have also been invited to showcase their work and scholarships have been awarded to students.  Currently NPHS grads, Daniel Bound-Black and Ellen Kuhl attend DeSales University partially through scholarships earned at the Shakespeare Competition.

 The Pennsylvania Shakespeare competition is one of two high school Shakespeare competitions that NPHS Theatre participates in each year.  On February 20, Erica Hutchinson also represented the school at the English-Speaking Union Philadelphia Branch’s Shakespeare Competition at the Arden Theatre.  After a highly competitive opening round with students from the 18 participating schools presenting Shakespeare monologues and sonnets, Erica was one of 10 students that placed in the semi-final round in which students presented a cold reading of Shakespeare after 15 minutes of rehearsal.  For her work, Erica was awarded the third place medal and a $250.00 scholarship. She was presented with the awards at a reception at the Arden Theatre on March 4. Since NPHS began participating in the English Speaking Union Competition in 2001, NPHS students have taken 1^st place 5 times, 2^nd place two times, 3^rd place one time, or placed in the semi-final rounds each year.

 All of the participants to the Shakespeare competitions over the years have performed in NPHS Theatre fall productions and spring musicals and have taken the theatre class cycles of Introduction to Acting, Advanced Acting, and/or Drama Major.  The seven Team Shakespeare students will all be appearing in featured roles in the upcoming spring musical, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (April 26-28), and all were featured in the fall show, Pride and Prejudice (except Alex who is a Marching Knight in the fall.)  Most of the participants have also gone on to study acting, musical theatre, music, technical theatre, or communications at noted college, university, or conservatory programs.

Asked about the Shakespeare competition experience, director Andrea Roney said, “Measuring their work against other schools and students is always an educational and eye-opening experience for our students.  Aspects of theatre we discuss daily in class and rehearsals – objectives; digging into the text inferring and creating; research of a historical period, playwright, or character; moving with purpose; speaking clearly; working with others for an ensemble production – they realize are the expectations of everyone striving to produce good theatre and explore the human journey we all share through the powerful words of great playwrights.  But the best part of Saturday’s competition was having a parent from another school deliberately tell our Team Shakespeare that not only had it been a pleasure to watch their work and talent throughout the competition, but it had been a joy to watch how respectful and supportive they had been with each other and the students from other schools.” 

Roney smiled and added, “Trophies and applause are great, but a comment like that, it doesn’t get better than that!”