S ha k espeare M onologue C ompetition
Shakespeare often strikes fear into the hearts of
students and young people. It’s often considered
boring and impossible to understand. So I was thrilled
when, back in December, nine budding Shakespeare
enthusiasts from the Lower and Middle School signed
up to take part in the English Speaking Union’s annual
Shakespeare Monologue Competition.
the organiser of the competition, who then led our
students and the finalists from other selected schools
through a very informative drama workshop focussed
specifically on preparing a monologue.
The rules were simple. Find a monologue from any
Shakespeare play, rehearse it, film it with a short
introduction and submit it online. After the Christmas
break, we received word that all nine of our pupils
had been invited to attend the competition’s regional
finals at Dartmouth House in Mayfair. Then it was on to the competition itself. One at a
time, each pupil performed their monologue to the
rest of the group. With the wide variety of talent and
speeches, it was such a joyous occasion to see so
many young people enjoying performing the words
of the Bard. All our students made a great impression
on the panel, with one of them, Jonjo Hodson,
walking away with a Prize of Special Commendation
for their monologue.
Our journey to London was filled with excitement;
partly to attend the finals and partly to walk down
the Mall to ‘visit the Queen’. On our arrival at
Dartmouth House, we were greeted by Emma Coffey, Our pupils received a warm welcome from our hosts,
many words of wisdom from the judging panel to help
them improve their drama skills, and made some new
friends along the way.
Karl Niklas
MUSIC