On Tuesday, January 30th, ten talented students at Camden High School brought the work of William Shakespeare to life as part of the Camden Central School District Theater Department’s 31st Annual Shakespeare Competition.
The competition is part of the English Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition held each year.
Since starting in 1983, the national competition has put over 400,000 young people on stage to perform the work of Shakespeare.
Approximately 20,000 students take part each year. Numerous famous actors, directors, and theater educators have served as judges for the national competition over the years including Gene Wilder, Christopher Reeve, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
As family, friends, faculty, staff, and fellow students looked on, each one of Camden High School’s finalists delivered a two-to-three minute monologue from one of Shakespeare’s many works, and were evaluated on their knowledge of the material and their delivery by an esteemed panel of judges.
The theater department would like to thank Robin Edkin, Patti Kimball, and Chelsea Light Morrison for their time and effort sitting on this year’s judging panel.
After evaluations were complete and scores were tabulated, the following students were selected for awards. Camden High School’s first place winner for 2024 was junior Owen Carr. Owen has earned the right to compete at the regional competition to be held at Syracuse Stage in March. The regional competition will require Owen to prepare a monologue and a sonnet for the judges. At the regional competition, a spot in the national level competition on April 15th will be on the line.
The national level competition is held at Lincoln Center in New York City, and competitors are treated to a bus tour, acting workshops, and an opportunity to experience a live broadway production. They will also compete for prestigious prizes, with the winner receiving a spot in a summer conservatory program to be held at Oxford University.
Camden High School’s runner-up was Annaka Stauring. The junior has emerged as a bright young star in local theater. In the Spring of 2023, she was selected for the Syracuse Stage Young Playwrights’ Festival.
In third place was senior Marley Hilliker. Junior Alyssa Vera and freshman Brooklyn Waterman were chosen to receive honorable mention honors from the judges.
Congratulations!