Playhouse Square Hosts Shakespeare Competition, 2/27

In partnership with Great Lakes Theater Festival, The PlayhouseSquare Community Engagement & Education Department is hosting the Cleveland Branch Finals of the annual English-Speaking Union's (ESU) National Shakespeare Competition on Saturday, February 27. Students from 38 Northeast Ohio schools are participating. Cuyahoga County Public Library Executive Director Sari Feldman will deliver the event's keynote address at 9:00 a.m.

The winning student from the Cleveland Branch Finals will travel to the National Shakespeare Competition in New York City in April. The winner of that competition receives a full scholarship to the British American Drama Academy's Midsummer Conservatory Program in Oxford, England.

The judges of the Cleveland Branch Finals are Plain Dealer theater critic Tony Brown; Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director, Cleveland Play House; Beth Wood, Associate Artistic Director, Cleveland Public Theater; Cleveland State University professor Holly Holsinger; John Hedges, Executive Director, Weathervane Playhouse; and Notre Dame College professor Jacqi Loewy.

The Shakespeare Competition has been the primary educational program of the ESU Cleveland Branch for more than 20 years. Started with 500 students in New York City schools in 1983, the ESU's Shakespeare Competition is now a national curriculum-based program that has helped almost 250,000 high school students develop their understanding of Shakespeare -- the beauty and scope of his language as well as the timeless themes embodied in his works -- and their ability to communicate that understanding. Currently the program reaches 16,000 students and 2,000 teachers annually via competitions run by 60 ESU branches across the United States.

The participating schools include Bay High School, Beachwood High School, Beaumont School, Benedictine High School, Berea High School, Brush High School, Cleveland Hts. High School, Cleveland School of the Arts, Cuyahoga Hts. High School, East High School, Fairview High School, Gilmour Academy, Glenville High School, Hathaway Brown School, Hawken School, Holy Name High School, Independence High School, James Ford Rhodes High School, John Adams High School, Lake Ridge Academy, Lakewood High School, Laurel School, Magnificat High School, Mayfield High School, Midpark High School, Normandy High School, North Olmsted High School, Shaker Hts. High School, St. Edward High School, St. Ignatius High School, St. Joseph Academy, St. Martin de Porres High School, Success Tech Academy, Trinity High School, Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Warrensville High School, Westlake High School and Whitney Young High School.

PlayhouseSquare understands its vital role as an educator in our community, and is committed to providing arts learning opportunities of the highest quality to enrich the lives of students, families, teachers and adults. PlayhouseSquare's Community Engagement & Education Department is unique in the performing arts industry for the variety of programs it offers, the partnerships it initiates and the access it provides students, educators and aspiring artists to performing arts professionals. Since its inception in 1998, the Community Engagement & Education Department has offered thousands of events, workshops, classes and more, most with minimal or no fees, to people of all ages from all areas of Northeast Ohio. The generous support of individual and corporate donors and foundations makes it all possible.

The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a non-profit, non-political, educational organization that promotes scholarship and advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community.

The first resident company of PlayhouseSquare, Great Lakes Theater Festival has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience in northern Ohio since 1962.

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