The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a professional theatre that shares a campus with Southern Utah University. For 45 years, their education department has hosted a High School Shakespeare Competition.
Chris Reynold, a Consulting Teacher of Fine Arts and Director of Bands for Highland Park High School, and Harrison Lamb, a drama teacher and theatre troupe sponsor, helped students become the first in Kansas to ever submit an entry to the festival.
Highland Park students filmed and submitted 3 monologue performances, 2 duo scenes, one ensemble scene, and 2 Shakespeare-themed dances to the festival.
Mr. Lamb said, “I grew up in Utah, and my high school participated every year,” which is how he got students excited about Shakespeare.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the competition made adjustments and was held virtually last year. This year, the competition was hybrid, with some events in-person and many entries submitted virtually.
All submissions are adjudicated by professional actors and dancers. Those adjudications give a certain amount of points. Out of the 34 schools in the Ipswich Division, Highland Park High School had the third highest point accumulation, taking third place.
Congratulations to our amazing Highland Park High School students and instructors!