Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare Competition Sets Attendance Milestone and Awards $15,000 in College Scholarships

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's annual high school Shakespeare Competition celebrates its 9th year with milestone attendance-more than 100 students representing fourteen counties, across four states.

The Festival's Shakespeare Competition was held Saturday, March 4 at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the Center Valley campus of DeSales University. Participating high schools came from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.

"We typically host an average of 60 students each year, and after a modest jump last year we were thrilled when we realized we would be hosting more than 100 students in 2017," says PSF Education Director Jill Arington. "We anticipate that this number will continue to grow as schools bring bigger teams each year and spread the word to other teachers about the event."

Students performed monologues and scenes from a range of Shakespeare's plays-from the tragedies of Macbeth and Othello to the comedies Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing. The performances were adjudicated by seven professional actors and teaching artists from New York and Philadelphia.

"Observation and feedback are essential to the artist and the PSF Shakespeare Competition provides this for all students who take part in the festivities," says Kelly Minner Bickert, acting teacher at Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Arts. "Over the years I have had students comment on how this is a glorious day where they are given a forum for doing what they love and celebrated for doing it well."

Participants were also offered educational opportunities to attend a variety of workshops and panel discussions with the professional artists.

"The most rewarding part of this event is the synergy that results from putting students and teachers who are already excited about Shakespeare in the same room as the professional artists who are eager to encourage that enthusiasm." says Arington.

The competition concluded with a showcase of performances chosen for outstanding merit and an awards ceremony.

Prizes totaling $15,000 in renewable scholarships were awarded for recipients to major in the Division of the Performing Arts at DeSales University.

This year Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Arts was the first place winner for the school team award.

"It truly was a stellar day for all my students and from the pieces I saw it was a stellar day for all teams," says Minner Bickert. "As an acting teacher and a lover of Shakespeare it is so rewarding to see high school students developing a love of his works."

Next year's competition is scheduled for Saturday, March 3, 2018. All high school-aged students in public, private, or home school are eligible to participate.

The Festival's 9th Annual Competition winners are:

School Team Awards

First Place Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, Bethlehem, PA

Second Place Abington Friends School, Jenkintown, PA

Third Place North Penn High School, Lansdale, PA

Monologue Awards

First Place: Krystal Hall as Lady Percy from Henry IV, Part 1

- LV Charter High School for the Arts

Second Place: Hannah Krivulka as Viola from Twelfth Night

- LV Charter High School for the Arts

Third Place: Kellan McMichael as Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing

- Home School

Scene Awards

First Place: Kristopher Sanchez and August Fegley as Benedick & Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing

- LV Charter High School for the Arts

Second Place: Andrew Bozzelli IV, Daniel Wescoe & Liam McKee as Macbeth, Witch 1 & Witch 2 from Macbeth

- North Penn High School

Third Place: Saria Rosenhaj and Drew Jacobson as Isabella & Claudio from Measure for Measure

- Abington Friends School

Scholarship Recipients

Aiden McDonald, Krystal Hall, Patrick Moran, Hannah Krivulka, Kyle Jacobs, Gabe Moses, Drew Jacobsen, Gabe Savage, Olivia Behr, Kristopher Sanchez, August Fegley.

2017 Participating schools included:

Abington Friends School, Jenkintown, PA

AIM Academy, Conshohoken, PA

Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Wilmington, DE

Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill, PA

Carlisle High School, Carlisle, PA

The Catholic High School of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD

Central Dauphin High School, Harrisburg, PA

Exeter High School, Reading, PA

Lawrence High School, Lawrenceville, NJ

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, Bethlehem, PA

North Penn High School, Lansdale, PA

Parkland High School, Allentown, PA

Pottsville Area High School, Pottsville, PA

Quakertown Community Senior High School, Quakertown, PA

Twin Valley High School, Elverson, PA

Waynesboro Area Senior High School, Waynesboro, PA

Wilson High School, West Lawn, PA

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival hosts the annual Shakespeare Competition with the support of DeSales University as a part of PSF's Linny Fowler WillPower Education Programs, made possible by a generous gift from the late philanthropist Marlene "Linny" Fowler.

PSF is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Shakespeare Theatre Association, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, and Discover Lehigh Valley.

The Festival's upcoming 26th season is sponsored by David B. and Patrina L. Rothrock. Associate season sponsors are the Harry C. Trexler Trust, Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth, and the Szarko family. The season media sponsor is The Morning Call.

The season runs June 2 through August 6. The schedule is:

Main Stage Theatre

Evita • June 14 - July 2

The Three Musketeers • July 12 - August 6

As You Like It• July 20 - August 6

Shakespeare for Kids • July 26 - August 6

Schubert Theatre

The Hound of the Baskervilles • June 21 - July 16

Troilus and Cressida • July 26 - August 6

The Ice Princess • June 2 - August 6

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