The Shakespeare competition, a yearly drama event at Cathedral Catholic, takes place on January 22nd in the Lecture Hall during block 6. Anyone who would like to participate in the competition is welcome and will be performing in front of two judges, Ms. Katie Wilson and Mr. Jeff McMurtry.

Mr. McMurtry cited the number of people who usually compete for first place in the competition: “We fill up about 15 seats of competitors who mostly come from Ms.Wilson’s advanced theatre crew. We also end up getting freshmen and sophomores from English classes, too. Approximately one quarter of the contestants are new.”

Just like the winner of last year’s competition, this year’s winner will get the chance to perform at the Old Globe Theatre in the final round. In addition to having the opportunity to perform at the Old Globe Theater, the winner will also receive a $50 gift card to Barnes and Nobles.

In the effort to win the competition, Mr. McMurtry said the two most important factors necessary to master and win the competition: “In order to win the competition, there are two things that need to happen: you need to win the monologue and win the sonnet. A monologue is given more weight than the sonnet and the monologue also bears most of the burden in all of Shakespeare.” According to Mr. McMurtry, another important criteria for winning is to correctly express your character by acting.

In terms of the positive experience in competing for a chance to win, Mr. McMurtry said: “The participant should have an appreciation of Shakespeare to be competing in the first place. It’s a challenging acting environment which is professional acting.”

The Shakespeare competition, regardless of who the winner is, should be a positive learning experience shared among many. Anyone interested in participating, please feel free to contact Ms.Wilson or Mr. McMurtry.