Central PA ESU 25th regional Shakespeare competition

Event Recap

Third Place: Clara Hanahan – State College Area High School – Jill Campbell, Coach First Place: Patrick Moran – Pottsville High School – Maria Malek, Coach Second Place: Jeremy Duarte – Harrisburg Academy – Peter B. Frengel, Coach

The winter wind may have been fierce on Saturday 13 February 2016, but the camaraderie was warm inside Pierce Auditorium on the Lock Haven University campus. The occasion was the Central PA Region of the English speaking Union's 25th Regional Shakespeare competition. Seven competitors, winners of their high school competitions, each presented their choice sonnet and 20 line monologue from the Shakespeare Canon.

The presentations by Christina Johns, Hannah Nori, Patrick Moran, Jeremy Duarte, Gilliian Letson, Clara Hanahan, and Mayce Van, were evaluated by Elizabeth Gruber, Ramona Broomer, and MG Gainor, LHU English and Dramatics faculty. The judges awarded first place to Patrick Moran (Pottsville Area HS), second place to Clara Hanahan (State College Area HS) and third place to Jeremy Duarte (Harrisburg Academy). The winner, Patrick Moran, receives an all expense trip to New York City to compete with approx. 60 other students at the National Shakespeare Competition to be held May 1-3, 2016.

The teacher/coaches were: Bob Hankes (Big Spring HS), Lisa Weitzman (Capital Area School for the Arts), Susan Biondo-Hench (Carlisle HS), Peter Frengel (Harrisburg Academy), Lisa Chorle ( Philipsburg-Osceola HS), Maria Malek (Pottsville Area HS), and Jill Campbell (State College Area HS).

Cheering the students onward was 40+ member audience comprised of classmates, parents, teachers, and members of the ESU Central PA Region Board of Directors: Karen Blair-Brand, President. As ESU treasurer, Alyce Baker, LHU Associate Professor of English, gathered University support for the venue and hospitality services for the event. Bonnie M. Resinski, coordinated and was the MC for the competition. With the good luck quotation from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice , "fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you", all involved happily returned home to plan for next year's competition.

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