LFNY loves the Bard. This year’s qualifying round of the English Speaking Union Annual Shakespeare Competition involved twenty-four students from 3eme to Terminale, from level 1 English to OIB. For this rigorous tourney, students memorize and perform speeches from Shakespeare’s plays. Awards are given to the top four contestants, and the winner will participate in the city-wide semi-finals, and possibly state and national finals.
As teachers, the marvel of this competition is coaching students through the process. Studying Shakespeare in this way – understanding the words, contextualizing the speech in terms of character and play, then performing it – can be a transformative, inspiring experience for both teacher and student.
This year’s winner, Max Dowell (Tle), gave audience members shivers in his portrayal of the evil Aaron from the play Titus Andronicus. In the same role, second place winner Lucas Dias Rodrigues dos Santos’ (Tle) performance was described as “chilling” by one faculty member in attendance. Nadia Allam-mi (3eme), our third place finisher, delivered an utterly convincing Shylock from The Merchant of Venice, the bitter money-lender at odds with the merchant of the title.
Two prizes were also given for Best Creative Interpretation. These went to Amelia Clemot (1ere) for her comic turn as Falstaff from The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Etienne Gianelli (3eme) for his stirring Romeo from Romeo and Juliette.
The full auditorium of students and teachers also witnessed performances by unsung competitors. Some students moved spectators with their expressiveness but did not leave with a prize. Sasha Pierre-Louis (1ere) ran a gamut of emotions as Cleopatra and Amelina France-Sluka’s (1ere) Macbeth seethed with a tightly wound rage.
What one discovers through this kind of event is that some students come alive through Shakespeare’s characters and language. On stage, they’re physical presence seems to double. Such was the case for Joseph Maubert (2nde) as Romeo and Alexis Romet (2nde) as Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Audrey Williams (3eme), too, won us over for her frustration and passion in her role as Viola from Twelfth Night. And, seasoned Shakespeare competitor Matthieu Shifera (Tle) turned in another solid performance, this year as the son who has slain his own father in Henry VI.
As we tell the competitors, what they accomplish through this process is something some stars who get paid millions per movie are terrified to do. We are impressed and inspired by our students, and we look forward to next year’s competition.
About the Author :
Jiro Adachi has been teaching English at the Lycée since 2005. He is also the author of the novel The Island of Bicycle Dancers (St. Martin’s Press).