Competing Shakespeare

Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts'

SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION TEAM 2012

I currently teach two classes at the new Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts--Theatre Foundations for Dancers and the Advanced Drama class/Shakespeare Competition Team. For several years I have wanted to be the full-time drama teacher at a high school (still working on that dream) and take my students down to the annual USF/SUU Shakespeare Competition in Cedar City (check). This year I was able to coach this amazing group of students and take them down to compete and they did AWESOME!! To quote the PHS Drama Academy director, "We really are in a very talent saturated pocket of Utah, here in American Fork. Lots of very passionate teachers and students, and PHS kept up with the best of them."

Being down at the competition was so much fun--such a positive experience for the students and myself. Being there also brought back some bad memories of my first and only showing as a student competitor at the competition many years ago when I did a duo scene from Shakespeare's Othello, playing the role of (drum roll please) OTHELLO....yes, you heard me correctly...my teacher chose me (perhaps the whitest, skinniest male on the planet) to play Othello, the MOOR of Venice. There is more to that story, but that should paint enough of an embarrassing picture, so we'll leave it at that.

The competition is a BIG deal--very competitive.  It was PHS' first year at the competition and I wanted to go down there and blow away the competition. I wanted to come home triumphantly carrying first place trophies from each category. Did we, you ask? No. Will we next year? Yes. How DID they do? They did amazing. They were well-behaved, professional, considerate. Such amazing attitudes and such hard work. We had 7 students and they filled up all possible categories (3 monologues, 2 duo scenes, and 1 ensemble scene). One of our scenes took first place, one monologue was featured in the production showcase, our ensemble scene took 5th place and we ranked 4th overall in our division. Considering how much time we had to prepare and that it was our first year, we killed it. Most importantly, I had the privilege of working with these students, learning from them, and seeing them grow substantially. We DID come home triumphantly in the ways that matter most, and with a nice trophy to boot.

It was indeed a success. And now we now what we must do to take it ALL next year.

Today PHS was highlighted as the "Cool School of the Week" on FOX News' Good Day Utah with Big Budah. Take a look at the drama segment, featuring our competition ensemble scene (and yours truly):