Shakespeare Reading Competition

Knock knock! Who’s there?

The annual Shakespeare Reading Competition was held in Week 9 of Term 3 and we had 8 brave souls, “made of sterner stuff”, who turned up the day after Senior Evidence Exams to engage with the bard’s language. And did themselves proud in doing so!

Students prepare a reading for the first round. This year, students had choices from Macbeth, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The second round is a little more challenging and “not for the faint hearted” – an impromptu reading! This year, students had three possible choices – Sonnet 22, a Lear monologue from King Lear, a Cleopatra monologue from Anthony and Cleopatra. Interestingly, the vast majority of students selected the sonnet.

Sonnet 22
My glass shall not persuade me I am old,
So long as youth and thou are of one date;
But when in thee time’s furrows I behold,
Then look I death my days should expiate.
For all that beauty that doth cover thee,
Is but the seemly raiment of my heart,
Which in thy breast doth live, as thine in me:
How can I then be elder than thou art?
O! therefore love, be of thyself so wary
As I, not for myself, but for thee will;
Bearing thy heart, which I will keep so chary
As tender nurse her babe from faring ill.
Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain,
Thou gav’st me thine not to give back again.

The judges thoroughly enjoyed the participant pressure received from competitors to present from the impromptu reading choices before delivering their verdict. While they may have “felt in such a pickle” initially, in all reality, they relished the opportunity to “laugh oneself into stitches” and channel their inner thespian!

Junior Competition
First Place Prepared Reading: Riley Jackson
First Place Impromptu Reading: Nathan Avison

Senior Competition
First Place Prepared Reading: Desandi Fonseka
First Place Impromptu Reading: Samantha Nelson
Overall Winner: Samantha Nelson

Left to right: Nathan Avison, Samatha Nelson, Desandi Fonseka, and Riley Jackson